What do you think?
Rate this book
The Killing of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich
It has been said that if responsibility for the Nazi camps can be laid at the feet of any one man, that man is Reinhard Heydrich. Retribution for his violent death included several thousand executions & two villages being razed to the ground. Based on previously untouched archive material & interviews with surviving members of SOE & Czech military intelligence, this is an account of the motives for killing Heydrich, the course of the plan to execute him & how his killers were tracked down.
249 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1989
52 people are currently reading
572 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 5, 2022
Heydrich's assassination has interested me for years, ever since I first saw Fritz Lang and Bertolt Brecht's great propaganda film, "Hangmen Also Die," that tells the story of how the Czech underground not only carried out this extremely high-profile assassination, but also--through heroism and solidarity--managed to conceal the identity of the assassin in spite of threats, torture and retaliatory executions.
The real story is quite different. The actual assassins were expatriate Czech soldiers supported by the Czech government-in-exile, trained in weaponry and assassination techniques by the British. The native underground--far from supporting their effort--argued against this operation, fearing--rightly, as it turned out--that such an act would elicit serious reprisals. The government-in-exile, although acknowledging this danger, was desperately eager to establish its usefulness in the war effort, believing that good relationships with both Britain and the USSR was essential to ensuring a a place at the peace talks and once again establishing an independent Czech Republic.
Despite an excellent opportunity (Heydrich always rode in an open car to demonstrate his contempt for the Czech resistance), the assassins botched the job: a sten gun jammed, a grenade lobbed toward the open car missed its mark (damaging the door and seat of the Mercedes), and Heydrich took out his revolver and began to pursue his would-be assassins. It turned out, however, that the shrapnel (pieces of wire and horsehair from the seat) had pierced Heydrich's spleen, and he died of infection some days later.
The assassins went underground, and the fearful reprisals began, including the immediate transportation of 3000 Jews to concentration camps and the leveling of two Czech villages. The Nazi offered a reward, enticed an informer, and the assassins were tracked to their hiding place in the crypt of an Orthodox church. There heroic resistance lasted for hours, but eventually they ran out of ammunition and used their last bullets to kill themselves.
November 30, 2018
A fact-filled, well-organized presentation of the events leading up to, during, and after the assassination in Czechoslovakia of one of the most powerful and repulsive of the Nazi leaders. The depiction of the actual assassination reads like thriller.
... a Czech man who worked inside the Hradcany Castle PS a new through the window each night containing details of Heydrich's movements and whether or not he had been accompanied by an escort
... Heydrich rode in the front of the car with the chauffeur … the back seat was empty … there was no escort … at 10:32 Valcik signalled … as the car slowed, Gabcik raised the sten and pulled the trigger at point blank range … it failed to fire
… instead of speeding away, Heydrich ordered the car to stop, not seeing Kubis ... Kubis threw the bomb which exploded against the rear wheel, throwing shrapnel back on him and also into the car and Heydrich
... Heydrich and the driver jumped out … drew their pistols… chased Gabcik and Kubis, both of whom escaped
... Heydrich staggered and fell against his wrecked car … a woman commandeered a small truck … He was loaded in and taken to the Bulkova hospital … his external wounds were cleaned … but an x-ray revealed internal injuries including splinters from the bomb or the car in his spleen
... Heydrich's condition deteriorated … doctors chose not to remove the infected spleen … treated with drugs (an early versin of sulphanomide)
... in retaliation, thousands of Jews were taken off to extermination … but this was not enough for Hitler … the small village of Lidice was selected and destroyed
... a Czech man who worked inside the Hradcany Castle PS a new through the window each night containing details of Heydrich's movements and whether or not he had been accompanied by an escort
... Heydrich rode in the front of the car with the chauffeur … the back seat was empty … there was no escort … at 10:32 Valcik signalled … as the car slowed, Gabcik raised the sten and pulled the trigger at point blank range … it failed to fire
… instead of speeding away, Heydrich ordered the car to stop, not seeing Kubis ... Kubis threw the bomb which exploded against the rear wheel, throwing shrapnel back on him and also into the car and Heydrich
... Heydrich and the driver jumped out … drew their pistols… chased Gabcik and Kubis, both of whom escaped
... Heydrich staggered and fell against his wrecked car … a woman commandeered a small truck … He was loaded in and taken to the Bulkova hospital … his external wounds were cleaned … but an x-ray revealed internal injuries including splinters from the bomb or the car in his spleen
... Heydrich's condition deteriorated … doctors chose not to remove the infected spleen … treated with drugs (an early versin of sulphanomide)
... in retaliation, thousands of Jews were taken off to extermination … but this was not enough for Hitler … the small village of Lidice was selected and destroyed
February 5, 2017
Buried to the strains of Siegfried's Death March, more than a few people were quite relieved at the death of this hated man. Heydrich was a man feared by just about everyone, including his fellow Nazis. Much like J. Edgar Hoover, he was known to keep a dossier on everyone, and as head of SS intelligence and the secret police was well-placed to use it to his advantage. Killed by a couple of Czechs, the author documents the murder had less to do with British intelligence than Czech resistance and rooted in the political needs of the Czech president in exile.
Born into a family that suffered during the depression following World War I, Heydrich began his rise through the Navy where he excelled in languages and seemed to fit right in although he was bullied for his high voice and introverted ways. He was kicked out of the Navy thanks to an incident with a well-connected woman (he was a notorious womaniser), so he joined the ranks of Himmler's SicherheitsDienst (SD) the intelligence section of the SS. It was a perfect match and his rise was meteoric.
Heydrich had been sent to Prague to boost armaments production by the Czechs. The previous Reichs Protector, Neurath, was relieved of his duties in late 1941. Heydrich was assassinated barely 8 months later. The resistance had originally intended to use assault weapons, but they jammed so they threw a grenade which wounded Heydrich severely and he died of sepsis..
Considered exceptionally intelligent, hard-working, ambitious and totally amoral, Heydrich had achieved his rise to the top of the SS by mercilessly crushing his enemies and by creating the “Final Solution” for Hitler’s plan to destroy all Jews. By putting him in charge of Bohemia and Moravia the Czechs would soon learn what it meant to live under a master of suppression. Heydrich’s plan was to use the “carrot and stick” approach, increasing food supplies to reduce the power of the resistance on the one hand, and on the other dealing ruthlessly with any opposition.
Both sides, as is so common, were driven by political needs. Heydrich wanted to combat the rising power of Martin Bormann, and to do so he needed to successfully convert the Protectorate into an SS state thus accruing more power to the SS. Benes needed to prove that the Czech people opposed the Nazis, who, he suspected were still seen by many in Britain as a bulwark against Russian imperialism and power. That many ordinary people got caught in the political crossfire bothered few except perhaps the families of those killed.
Those on the ground in Czechoslovakia in the resistance, when they heard about the proposed assassination were horrified and argued with London that it would have disastrous consequences for the resistance and thousands of innocent people who would be swept up and killed as reprisal with little to show for it. Anton Heidrich (more irony), a high ranking resistance officer, sent a message to London requesting the operation be called off, although the message they received did include a note at the end saying if the assassination was deemed absolutely necessary to the national interest they were willing to make the sacrifice (other people’s lives are always easy to sacrifice.)
It’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that Heydrich died following an almost bungled assassination. The reprisals that followed killed many innocent people. The book does a terrific job at portraying the multiple agendas of all those involved and the details of the assorted plots.
Born into a family that suffered during the depression following World War I, Heydrich began his rise through the Navy where he excelled in languages and seemed to fit right in although he was bullied for his high voice and introverted ways. He was kicked out of the Navy thanks to an incident with a well-connected woman (he was a notorious womaniser), so he joined the ranks of Himmler's SicherheitsDienst (SD) the intelligence section of the SS. It was a perfect match and his rise was meteoric.
Heydrich had been sent to Prague to boost armaments production by the Czechs. The previous Reichs Protector, Neurath, was relieved of his duties in late 1941. Heydrich was assassinated barely 8 months later. The resistance had originally intended to use assault weapons, but they jammed so they threw a grenade which wounded Heydrich severely and he died of sepsis..
Considered exceptionally intelligent, hard-working, ambitious and totally amoral, Heydrich had achieved his rise to the top of the SS by mercilessly crushing his enemies and by creating the “Final Solution” for Hitler’s plan to destroy all Jews. By putting him in charge of Bohemia and Moravia the Czechs would soon learn what it meant to live under a master of suppression. Heydrich’s plan was to use the “carrot and stick” approach, increasing food supplies to reduce the power of the resistance on the one hand, and on the other dealing ruthlessly with any opposition.
Both sides, as is so common, were driven by political needs. Heydrich wanted to combat the rising power of Martin Bormann, and to do so he needed to successfully convert the Protectorate into an SS state thus accruing more power to the SS. Benes needed to prove that the Czech people opposed the Nazis, who, he suspected were still seen by many in Britain as a bulwark against Russian imperialism and power. That many ordinary people got caught in the political crossfire bothered few except perhaps the families of those killed.
Those on the ground in Czechoslovakia in the resistance, when they heard about the proposed assassination were horrified and argued with London that it would have disastrous consequences for the resistance and thousands of innocent people who would be swept up and killed as reprisal with little to show for it. Anton Heidrich (more irony), a high ranking resistance officer, sent a message to London requesting the operation be called off, although the message they received did include a note at the end saying if the assassination was deemed absolutely necessary to the national interest they were willing to make the sacrifice (other people’s lives are always easy to sacrifice.)
It’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that Heydrich died following an almost bungled assassination. The reprisals that followed killed many innocent people. The book does a terrific job at portraying the multiple agendas of all those involved and the details of the assorted plots.
March 10, 2017
On my last full day of a visit to Prague I visited the Karel Boromejsky church and the crypt where the Heydrich assassins and other Czech parachutists were discovered and surrounded by S.S. and Gestapo troops in 1942, some of the agents were killed and the remainder chose suicide rather than be captured. The crypt of the church remains more or less how it was, with the walls riddled with bullet holes and monuments dedicated to the men. MacDonald's book was on sale at the church.
'The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich' is a very poignant and fascinating read, that I couldn't put down from start to finish, without doubt inspired by my visit to the place where these events culminated. My final day in Prague was the 7th of March, which I discovered in some strange coincidence was Heydrich's birth date.
The author's research is extensive and thorough in providing not just a fully comprehensive biographical background of Heydrich's life, his warped character and rise to the Nazi hierarchy, but also the political situation of Czechoslovakia, both before and after Munich, and the full military careers of the S.O.E. trained parachutists, the Czech military in exile in England and their machinations surrounding Operation Anthropoid, and the very dangerous and brave insertion of these agents back into their homeland.
The story is one of gripping suspense throughout that climbs to a crescendo to the 4th of June 1942 with the killing of the 'butcher of Prague'.
I have long been interested in political assassinations and find Heydrich's demise to be a rather accurate template for Kennedy's killing in Dallas just over twenty years later. Both victims were passengers in open topped vehicles, both cars had to slow down to round a corner, both actions involved assassins in a cross fire and "Gabcik, with the coat draped casually over his arm, crossed the street and stood beneath a small grassy knoll near a tram stop, waiting for Valcik's signal." The narrative then describes how Heydrich, instead of ordering the driver to accelerate out of the ambush, yelled at his driver to stop, what many witnesses on Elm Street describe the presidential limo as doing prior to the fatal head shot.
'The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich' is a very poignant and fascinating read, that I couldn't put down from start to finish, without doubt inspired by my visit to the place where these events culminated. My final day in Prague was the 7th of March, which I discovered in some strange coincidence was Heydrich's birth date.
The author's research is extensive and thorough in providing not just a fully comprehensive biographical background of Heydrich's life, his warped character and rise to the Nazi hierarchy, but also the political situation of Czechoslovakia, both before and after Munich, and the full military careers of the S.O.E. trained parachutists, the Czech military in exile in England and their machinations surrounding Operation Anthropoid, and the very dangerous and brave insertion of these agents back into their homeland.
The story is one of gripping suspense throughout that climbs to a crescendo to the 4th of June 1942 with the killing of the 'butcher of Prague'.
I have long been interested in political assassinations and find Heydrich's demise to be a rather accurate template for Kennedy's killing in Dallas just over twenty years later. Both victims were passengers in open topped vehicles, both cars had to slow down to round a corner, both actions involved assassins in a cross fire and "Gabcik, with the coat draped casually over his arm, crossed the street and stood beneath a small grassy knoll near a tram stop, waiting for Valcik's signal." The narrative then describes how Heydrich, instead of ordering the driver to accelerate out of the ambush, yelled at his driver to stop, what many witnesses on Elm Street describe the presidential limo as doing prior to the fatal head shot.
April 4, 2022
Enjoyment - 3.75/5 . Amount of info 4.75/5
It was a gift that I enjoyed more than I expected. 260 pages of text but fairly small writing and packed with info. Covers Heydrich's life and career in the SS as well as the perspective of the Czech government in exile and Czech intelligence. There is also a lot on politics. Firstly between different German factions in the military and intelligence groups. But also on the politics of the Czech government and the resistance. Politics plays a big role in the assassination as the Czech exile leader Benes needed a big act to prove the worth of the Czech resistance in order to secure the existence of Czechoslovakia after the war and to get the major powers to commit to reversing the Munich agreement so the Sudeten Germans could be deported after the war.
Overall would recommend for anyone interested in the higher ranking Nazis or WW2 in general.
It was a gift that I enjoyed more than I expected. 260 pages of text but fairly small writing and packed with info. Covers Heydrich's life and career in the SS as well as the perspective of the Czech government in exile and Czech intelligence. There is also a lot on politics. Firstly between different German factions in the military and intelligence groups. But also on the politics of the Czech government and the resistance. Politics plays a big role in the assassination as the Czech exile leader Benes needed a big act to prove the worth of the Czech resistance in order to secure the existence of Czechoslovakia after the war and to get the major powers to commit to reversing the Munich agreement so the Sudeten Germans could be deported after the war.
Overall would recommend for anyone interested in the higher ranking Nazis or WW2 in general.
August 21, 2021
The research for this book is phenomenal, and the writing is appropriately straightforward and unfussy. It is a worthy antidote to the weird novel "HHhH," for anyone seeking a more sober, fact-based account of Heydrich's killing. The truth of operation ANTHROPOID is thrilling enough, without any embellishments.
The early chapters of the book, in particular, were a revelation to me:
- the hasty, humiliating dissolution of the Czechoslovak government in 1939
- spymaster František Moravec's top-secret flight to Britain (even his wife did not know), in which he took all the intelligence files he could gather with him on the plane and had the rest destroyed
- the Czechoslovaks' most valuable asset, Paul Thümmel, a German military intelligence officer codenamed A-54, who reliably supplied them, and by extension the Allies generally, with high quality information for many years before being found out. His motives are still not really known.
- Beneš' uphill battle for recognition and support for his exile government, which hinged, he believed, on organizing symbolically significant acts of resistance, often through the work of parachutists dropped into the Protectorate from Britain. These parachute runs could only be done in winter, under cover of darkness, but the snow and fog also made them high-risk operations.
For every contemplated action, Beneš, Moravec, and their close allies had to balance the expectations of London, the expectations of Moscow, the likely response of the Nazis, what was best for the Czechs generally, what was best for the Czech resistance specifically, and what would give Czechoslovakia a fighting chance of emerging from the war whole and democratic. So many competing interests, no easy choices.
There are a few factual errors and spelling mistakes. The United Nations was not founded until after the war. The site where Anthropoid was carried out is not in Holešovice, but across the river in Libeň.
The whole book is propelled by the terrible moral calculus of a single targeted killing that resulted fierce reprisals and thousands of deaths.
The early chapters of the book, in particular, were a revelation to me:
- the hasty, humiliating dissolution of the Czechoslovak government in 1939
- spymaster František Moravec's top-secret flight to Britain (even his wife did not know), in which he took all the intelligence files he could gather with him on the plane and had the rest destroyed
- the Czechoslovaks' most valuable asset, Paul Thümmel, a German military intelligence officer codenamed A-54, who reliably supplied them, and by extension the Allies generally, with high quality information for many years before being found out. His motives are still not really known.
- Beneš' uphill battle for recognition and support for his exile government, which hinged, he believed, on organizing symbolically significant acts of resistance, often through the work of parachutists dropped into the Protectorate from Britain. These parachute runs could only be done in winter, under cover of darkness, but the snow and fog also made them high-risk operations.
For every contemplated action, Beneš, Moravec, and their close allies had to balance the expectations of London, the expectations of Moscow, the likely response of the Nazis, what was best for the Czechs generally, what was best for the Czech resistance specifically, and what would give Czechoslovakia a fighting chance of emerging from the war whole and democratic. So many competing interests, no easy choices.
There are a few factual errors and spelling mistakes. The United Nations was not founded until after the war. The site where Anthropoid was carried out is not in Holešovice, but across the river in Libeň.
The whole book is propelled by the terrible moral calculus of a single targeted killing that resulted fierce reprisals and thousands of deaths.
June 28, 2016
Laurent Binetin "HHhH" ja Terhi Rannelan Frau -romaanit saivat minut kiinnostumaan Reinhard Heydrichin salamurhasta, ja niinpä tulin hankkineeksi Prahan-reissultani tämän tietopokkarin. Faktapohja oli ymmärtääkseni molemmissa edellämainituissa hyvin kohdillaan, mutta ainahan sitä voi oppia jotain lisää!
Callum MacDonaldin "The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich" osoittautuikin päteväksi ja selkeäksi yleisesitykseksi, jossa kuvattiin napakasti niin Prahan pyövelinä tunnetun natsijohtajan elämänvaiheita kuin hänen salamurhaansa johtanutta Operaatio Anthropoidia.
Mielenkiintoista oli saada myös lisävalotusta kansallissosialistisen puolueen kulisseissa käytyyn valtataisteluun ja siihen suurvaltapoliittiseen peliin, jota miehitystä paenneet tsekkoslovakialaiset poliitikot joutuivat käymään pitääkseen hengissä toiveita maansa selviämisestä sodanjälkeisessä maailmassa.
Callum MacDonaldin "The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich" osoittautuikin päteväksi ja selkeäksi yleisesitykseksi, jossa kuvattiin napakasti niin Prahan pyövelinä tunnetun natsijohtajan elämänvaiheita kuin hänen salamurhaansa johtanutta Operaatio Anthropoidia.
Mielenkiintoista oli saada myös lisävalotusta kansallissosialistisen puolueen kulisseissa käytyyn valtataisteluun ja siihen suurvaltapoliittiseen peliin, jota miehitystä paenneet tsekkoslovakialaiset poliitikot joutuivat käymään pitääkseen hengissä toiveita maansa selviämisestä sodanjälkeisessä maailmassa.
January 4, 2013
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (7 March 1904–4 June 1942) was a prime example of the kind of fanatical devotion that Adolf Hitler sought in his underlings and an early architect of the final solution. This account is unsympathetic. A sympathetic account would be, after reading this, difficult to imagine.
A movie was made of the Heydrich assassination, Operation Daybreak, which I saw on television around 1975.
A movie was made of the Heydrich assassination, Operation Daybreak, which I saw on television around 1975.
March 15, 2023
Read this around my trip to Prague. Can't judge the historical accuracy of MacDonald's account, but I sure was captivated. MacDonald doesn't play the sensation card by starting in medias res, but rather takes plenty of time to sketch the rise of nazism, the SS and Heydrichs role within it. From there, the book skillfully leads up to the assassination, all the while providing a strong argument for the contextualization of the mission within exiled president Edvard Beneš' feverish quest to strengthen dimplomatic ties and ensure that Czechoslovakia not fall into German hands in case of a peace offer (1942!).
June 27, 2025
a bit too heavy toward geopolitical background and too light toward detail around the titular assassination
April 17, 2015
We bought this book in Prague the evening after we had visited the church where the Czech paratrooper assassins died, and so we decided to read it aloud together once we had returned home. I had read about the plot to kill Heydrich in Madeleine Albright's book Prague Winter, and I was eager to learn all I could about this historic event.
The book begins with deep background of Heydrich himself, tracing his biography to his childhood in Germany, and his military career to his time in Prague. It was comprehensive, I thought, but not tedious. The language is objective, but the reader can find nothing in these pages to sympathize with this butcher; and his wife seems like no prize, either! These were cruel people, successful climbers in a murderous military regime.
MacDonald also gives a very detailed description of the Czech operation, run by the government in exile in London, as well as the context of other such missions during the war, which was very instructive.
I found the pages in which the assasination occurs to be riveting, and even though I knew the "ending," I was glued to the book through the end. The Nazis' cruel reprisals are also recounted, and though horrifying, it is a relevant part of the history of the missions, and should be part of the question of what the assassination accomplished and what it cost.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in World War II or in Czech history.
The book begins with deep background of Heydrich himself, tracing his biography to his childhood in Germany, and his military career to his time in Prague. It was comprehensive, I thought, but not tedious. The language is objective, but the reader can find nothing in these pages to sympathize with this butcher; and his wife seems like no prize, either! These were cruel people, successful climbers in a murderous military regime.
MacDonald also gives a very detailed description of the Czech operation, run by the government in exile in London, as well as the context of other such missions during the war, which was very instructive.
I found the pages in which the assasination occurs to be riveting, and even though I knew the "ending," I was glued to the book through the end. The Nazis' cruel reprisals are also recounted, and though horrifying, it is a relevant part of the history of the missions, and should be part of the question of what the assassination accomplished and what it cost.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in World War II or in Czech history.
January 24, 2021
Bloody brilliant, no better words to describe it. The reason I found it so good was that it was so simple, yet tells the story in full. I’ve read 2 other books of the Assassination of Heydrich that by comparison were confusing, saturated, and stretched out using unnecessary filler information that added nothing to the story. Not naming any names. However, this book, at just under 300 pages in length, manages to cover the entire operation from conception to execution and aftermath. This is one of my favourite stories of the entire Second World War, so much so that I just had to do a Heydrich tour of Prague 2 years ago, to see it all for myself. The way Kubiś and Gabčik so willingly gave their lives to stop the sociopathic madman from bringing any more harm to the people of Czechoslovakia is frankly inspiring. I’d recommend this book, or any book on this operation for that matter, to everyone. You don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate the importance of it.
April 22, 2019
This is a very detailed account of the assassination of Heydrich, it covers the political background of the Czech government in some detail, the selection of the parachutists, and the events leading up to the assassination and the reprisals, i.e. it is factual and objective. This is perhaps the greatest failing in that it reads like a textbook, it lacks any emotional involvement, and simply lays out the facts in a flat and uninteresting fashion. This was after all an act of extreme bravery, and simply to describe the deaths of the parachutists in the dry tones of the official German report is to diminish their achievement.
May 31, 2019
Picked this book up from a charity shop with no idea of what to expect before reading it. A really gripping story with plenty of historical context written in an engaging way. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and well worth a read for a slightly different perspective of the story of WW2 and the Holocaust. 5/5.
September 17, 2017
Smartly written recap. Thumbs up. Absolutely enjoyed it.
January 11, 2022
Years ago, I watched a movie called "Operation Daybreak," which I now know to be a somewhat romanticized telling of Operation Anthropoid. I had just a basic grasp of World War II events at the time, but I thought the basis for the film sounded like an incredibly compelling story. When the movie appeared on TCM a few months ago, I picked this up.
Author MacDonald has put together a well-researched and detailed background on Heydrich - an ideal target for assassination from many different perspectives. Reinhard Heydrich's strategic and effective persecution of the native population of Czechoslovakia was repressive in the extreme. As a rising star in the SS, his ability to gain consensus amongst rival Nazi organizations regardless of goal, and of course his development of the Final Solution, made Heydrich an appallingly ruthless Nazi who appeared to have a brilliant future helping the Third Reich be successful. He had even, thus far, been able to navigate the changing winds of Hitler's moods and those of his direct and general staff successfully.
More importantly, though, we learn of the politics on the other side. Primarily, there's the Czechoslovakian government in absentia, struggling for necessary - but not readily available - recognition on the world stage, while balancing the need to keep the communist party, ever ready to gain a foothold, at arm's length. Meanwhile, Soviet Russia, just hit by Operation Barbarossa, would happily take help from anywhere, and perhaps the Czech government could gain more prestige/that desired recognition by giving them information - if they had any to give - about the Nazis.
It all adds up to a perfect storm of underground activity and a fascinating story, not just lending insight into the political chess game, but also the nightmare of basic logistics, of immature wartime intelligence, and so many lives lost at the expense of the greater goal. At the end of the day, it's a story of great men and small men, heroes and traitors - and although we will never understand the motives, at least we will have a better understanding of the actions.
My De Capo edition came with photos, of very poor quality. But that's the only issue I have - MacDonald had detailed notes on every source, an explanation and log of all Czech mission codes, and an acronym list. Exceptional.
Author MacDonald has put together a well-researched and detailed background on Heydrich - an ideal target for assassination from many different perspectives. Reinhard Heydrich's strategic and effective persecution of the native population of Czechoslovakia was repressive in the extreme. As a rising star in the SS, his ability to gain consensus amongst rival Nazi organizations regardless of goal, and of course his development of the Final Solution, made Heydrich an appallingly ruthless Nazi who appeared to have a brilliant future helping the Third Reich be successful. He had even, thus far, been able to navigate the changing winds of Hitler's moods and those of his direct and general staff successfully.
More importantly, though, we learn of the politics on the other side. Primarily, there's the Czechoslovakian government in absentia, struggling for necessary - but not readily available - recognition on the world stage, while balancing the need to keep the communist party, ever ready to gain a foothold, at arm's length. Meanwhile, Soviet Russia, just hit by Operation Barbarossa, would happily take help from anywhere, and perhaps the Czech government could gain more prestige/that desired recognition by giving them information - if they had any to give - about the Nazis.
It all adds up to a perfect storm of underground activity and a fascinating story, not just lending insight into the political chess game, but also the nightmare of basic logistics, of immature wartime intelligence, and so many lives lost at the expense of the greater goal. At the end of the day, it's a story of great men and small men, heroes and traitors - and although we will never understand the motives, at least we will have a better understanding of the actions.
My De Capo edition came with photos, of very poor quality. But that's the only issue I have - MacDonald had detailed notes on every source, an explanation and log of all Czech mission codes, and an acronym list. Exceptional.
March 11, 2019
Reinhard Heydrich, the SS commander of occupied Czechoslovakia during WWII, is known to history as one of the most brutal men in a very brutal regime. In 1942, the Czech resistance achieved a spectacular coup by assassinating Heydrich in broad daylight as he was being driven from his home to the airport. As in many cases of this type, the assassins' carefully laid plans went awry, culminating when the sten gun carried by one of the assassins jammed as he opened fire on Heydrich, and Heydrich was killed only after he ordered his driver to halt so he could confront the apparently-unsuccessful attackers, and the second assassin managed to log a homemade bomb at him.
The aftermath of the assassination was frightful, with two entire villages being razed in retaliation, all men and boys over the age of 16 shot, and women and children sent to concentration camps where all but a handful perished. Assessing this aftermath is where the book falls a little short. The assassination was motivated by the Czech government-in-exile's desire to appear to be relevant to the allied war effort, and was undertaken despite the knowledge that Nazi retaliation would be vicious. This desire was forlorn. The Czech resistance never was able to mount significant opposition to Hitler due to the country's isolated location far from Britain, which prevented the western allies from providing more than token material assistance. When Stalin's army rolled into Czechoslovakia a few years later, he cared only for the salient fact that his divisions controlled the country, and Czechoslovakia fell under the darkness of the Iron Curtain for another two generations. On one hand, one cannot blame the Czech government in exile for doing what it could to resist Hitler; on the other, that government appears to have been a little too willing to sacrifice the best interest of its people in favor of its own political needs, which never were going to be carried too far by a single assassination in any event.
All in all, it's an interesting story, and well told, though with a few salient imperfections.
The aftermath of the assassination was frightful, with two entire villages being razed in retaliation, all men and boys over the age of 16 shot, and women and children sent to concentration camps where all but a handful perished. Assessing this aftermath is where the book falls a little short. The assassination was motivated by the Czech government-in-exile's desire to appear to be relevant to the allied war effort, and was undertaken despite the knowledge that Nazi retaliation would be vicious. This desire was forlorn. The Czech resistance never was able to mount significant opposition to Hitler due to the country's isolated location far from Britain, which prevented the western allies from providing more than token material assistance. When Stalin's army rolled into Czechoslovakia a few years later, he cared only for the salient fact that his divisions controlled the country, and Czechoslovakia fell under the darkness of the Iron Curtain for another two generations. On one hand, one cannot blame the Czech government in exile for doing what it could to resist Hitler; on the other, that government appears to have been a little too willing to sacrifice the best interest of its people in favor of its own political needs, which never were going to be carried too far by a single assassination in any event.
All in all, it's an interesting story, and well told, though with a few salient imperfections.
July 27, 2024
A well-researched & coherently-written study of one of the most famous assassinations of the 20th century, & the subject of a gripping recent (2016) film 'Anthropoid' & an outstanding 'novel', 'HHhH' (2009) by French writer, Laurence Binet.
The history of Czechoslovakia in the years following the Treaty of Versailles (1919) is very complex & has often been left in the shadows by historians, until the crucial Munich Crisis of 1938, when the Czechs & Slovaks were sacrificed by the western powers to allow Britain & France some time to prepare for what was coming down the political road in the shape of Nazi Panzer divisions & the Waffen S.S. The most evil personification of this nightmare was Reinhard Heydrich, a very odd character with a very odd childhood & youth. He became one of the main architects of 'The Final Solution of the Jewish Problem'...but in summer 1942, a British-backed strategy to offer a final solution to the problem of Heydrich, as the main oppressor of the Czechs, was put into practice, by two 'parachutists' who somewhat cack-handedly but very courageously, sent S.S.Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich on his way to Nazi German 'valhalla'...killed as much by his own arrogance as by the bomb that struck his car & did enough to end his life & his rule. The retaliatory massacres of two villages, Lidice & Lezacky were terrible & the final stand, in a Prague church, of the 'parachustists', Kubis & Gabcik et al. is now remembered as an iconic episode of anti-Nazi resistance.
The history of Czechoslovakia in the years following the Treaty of Versailles (1919) is very complex & has often been left in the shadows by historians, until the crucial Munich Crisis of 1938, when the Czechs & Slovaks were sacrificed by the western powers to allow Britain & France some time to prepare for what was coming down the political road in the shape of Nazi Panzer divisions & the Waffen S.S. The most evil personification of this nightmare was Reinhard Heydrich, a very odd character with a very odd childhood & youth. He became one of the main architects of 'The Final Solution of the Jewish Problem'...but in summer 1942, a British-backed strategy to offer a final solution to the problem of Heydrich, as the main oppressor of the Czechs, was put into practice, by two 'parachutists' who somewhat cack-handedly but very courageously, sent S.S.Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich on his way to Nazi German 'valhalla'...killed as much by his own arrogance as by the bomb that struck his car & did enough to end his life & his rule. The retaliatory massacres of two villages, Lidice & Lezacky were terrible & the final stand, in a Prague church, of the 'parachustists', Kubis & Gabcik et al. is now remembered as an iconic episode of anti-Nazi resistance.
November 12, 2025
The first 60% of the book is 3 stars while the last 40% is 5. Thus, I’ll give it an avg of 4.
The first portion describes the period leading up to the Munich Agreement, the taking of the Sudetenland, the totality of German rule in the former Czechoslovakia & geopolitical scene as Germany expands west. While it sets the scene, to me it was far too much information. Relevant to the assassination? Sure. But the level was a bit more than I needed.
The actual names of the assassins don’t appear until about half way through and the training they go through is super interesting. I didn’t realize that they had parachuted into the Protectorate and hidden out for 6 months before their ambush. That portion of the story is wildly interesting as is the fact that the Nazis and Gestapo weren’t able to find the men until they were turned in by another parachuter.
Heydrich is a man who showed little remorse in this life and I hope he was shown the same in the next.
The first portion describes the period leading up to the Munich Agreement, the taking of the Sudetenland, the totality of German rule in the former Czechoslovakia & geopolitical scene as Germany expands west. While it sets the scene, to me it was far too much information. Relevant to the assassination? Sure. But the level was a bit more than I needed.
The actual names of the assassins don’t appear until about half way through and the training they go through is super interesting. I didn’t realize that they had parachuted into the Protectorate and hidden out for 6 months before their ambush. That portion of the story is wildly interesting as is the fact that the Nazis and Gestapo weren’t able to find the men until they were turned in by another parachuter.
Heydrich is a man who showed little remorse in this life and I hope he was shown the same in the next.
March 9, 2024
Having just read Giles Milton’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, this book covers only one of the missions in that book. However, there are details in that much shorter account that are not mentioned here. The reader here might think that the assassins were lucky that the grenade which hit Heydrich’s car resulted in embedding shrapnel in him. However, that is exactly how the grenade was designed to work.
What this book adds is the details of the Czech government in exile and their political aims. The difficult balancing act of trying to support Czech resistance, without their network being destroyed by the Nazis. And the even more difficult act of maintaining diplomatic links with Britain and the USSR whilst trying to subdue communist support in the country.
The political commentary can become rather dry at times.
What this book adds is the details of the Czech government in exile and their political aims. The difficult balancing act of trying to support Czech resistance, without their network being destroyed by the Nazis. And the even more difficult act of maintaining diplomatic links with Britain and the USSR whilst trying to subdue communist support in the country.
The political commentary can become rather dry at times.
February 24, 2025
Brave Czechoslovakia…
After being sold down the river by the authors of the Munich Agreement the brave citizens of Czechoslovakia became cowed by the sheer brutality of the Nazi regime. Heydrich was rightly nicknamed the butcher of Prague; his sole intention being the pursuit of power and mass murder was his obscene methodology. Czechoslovakia was too far away from the Western Allies and, on the whole reluctant to even hint at the Soviet Union for assistance because of the perceived post war future, being under the thumb of another tyrant Stalin. Two Czech patriots, trained by SOE retrieved Czechoslovakia’s lost honour and died in the process. In the perpetual ideological debate as to whether it was worth it, I suggest one asks the Czechs and not historians for their perspectives. A fine read, a page turner, and thoroughly recommended, 5 stars.
After being sold down the river by the authors of the Munich Agreement the brave citizens of Czechoslovakia became cowed by the sheer brutality of the Nazi regime. Heydrich was rightly nicknamed the butcher of Prague; his sole intention being the pursuit of power and mass murder was his obscene methodology. Czechoslovakia was too far away from the Western Allies and, on the whole reluctant to even hint at the Soviet Union for assistance because of the perceived post war future, being under the thumb of another tyrant Stalin. Two Czech patriots, trained by SOE retrieved Czechoslovakia’s lost honour and died in the process. In the perpetual ideological debate as to whether it was worth it, I suggest one asks the Czechs and not historians for their perspectives. A fine read, a page turner, and thoroughly recommended, 5 stars.
January 21, 2019
The story of the Czech assassination of Heydrich has interested me for years, and after viewing two recent films, "Anthropoid" and "Protektor," I dove into this book. The author spends a good deal of this book on the decision by the Czech government in exile in London to strike a blow to show that the Czechs would fight. Parallel to that is a lengthy look at the life, career and ambitions of Heydrich. I would have liked to have read more about the background and upbringing of the British-trained paratroopers who carried out the killing. Perhaps that kind of information was not available when MacDonald wrote this book in the late-'80s. In any event, this book provides a good overview of the attack and its aftermath.
July 18, 2017
An excellent piece of research on the 'Butcher of Prague', detailing his early years and one possible root of his anti Semitism, his supposed Jewish roots, to his beginnings in the navy all the way through his blood drenched career in the SS up to his assassination and the aftermath.
A large part of the book also focusses on the role that Beneš and the exiled Czechoslovakian government in London played in the operation and the various behind the scenes involvement of the British, the US and the Russians in the plot as well as the brave individuals who carried it out.
Very readable, recommended to anyone who studies the Third Reich or just the interested layman.
A large part of the book also focusses on the role that Beneš and the exiled Czechoslovakian government in London played in the operation and the various behind the scenes involvement of the British, the US and the Russians in the plot as well as the brave individuals who carried it out.
Very readable, recommended to anyone who studies the Third Reich or just the interested layman.
November 11, 2019
Very enjoyable read. I didn’t know much about Heydrich except he was one of Hitlers men. So this book opened a whole new world for me. As with all these characters you wonder what the driving force behind them to comment such horrific crimes in the world. Certainly a lot to learn from reading this book. But part of me wishes these men were alive today to tell it from there prospective. Would they have regrets ? Would they be as cold and calculating to the end? Guess we will never know but one does hope they may have seen the error of there ways and changed to become better men. If that was at all possible
July 13, 2025
Having been moved by a visit to the Karel Baromejsky Church at the end of 2024, I was looking to learn more about the dramatic events that unfolded there. I don’t think I could have done much better than this book. As well as the Paratroopers’ last stand, it details the political context behind the Czech resistance to the Nazi occupation as well as providing a detailed pen-picture of the villain-in-chief, Reynard Heydrich. A recommended read if you want to know more about one of the lesser known episodes of the Second World War (at least, before the release of the “Anthropod” film.)
June 24, 2020
Very informative and very well written. Although this book is filled with historical facts and information, MacDonald's narrative is powerful and engaging. It is a little heavy on the Czech resistance part; more than the assassination itself. However, there is much to learn and to debate! This book made me even more curious about Heydrich's personality made me question his mental sanity.
Great read!
Great read!
June 29, 2020
A well researched book about heydrich and the team that dealt with the assasination.all participants came across as pawns in a deadly game.the game being the fight for Czech freedom,and the neutralisation of German high command.the assasination was dealt with in the last two chapters,the first few dealing with the background to it.i found the the acronyms a bit of a pain going to the back of the book repeatedly but on the whole a good book about a very dark time in world history.
July 25, 2020
A fact filled book on the life and assassination of Heydrich. He was chief of the SD and secret police in Germany and the protectorates of Hermany such as Czechoslovakia where he was christened the butcher of Prague.
Well researched book, full of facts and and laid out in a good order. Well worth a read as it covers his life and assassination
Well researched book, full of facts and and laid out in a good order. Well worth a read as it covers his life and assassination
May 23, 2019
Bought this in Prague at the Charles University bookshop. Well-written and researched, but so detailed it was challenging to read, especially when distracted by cruising the Danube from Prague to Budapest. Glad to know more about Czechs and WWII.
March 13, 2020
This book was OK. A little too light on the details of the assassination itself, vs. extensive details on Heydrich's personal biography and the history of Czechoslovakia's participation in World War 2.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews