If you're ever in Prague, take the time to find the church they were killed in. When I was there in the 90s, there was a small candlelit shrine to the guys there and the bullet holes were still visible.
Yes you are right, I have been to that church and Im going back to Prague for a long weekend at the end of the month. Its a fascinating city and the last time I was there about 9 years ago the lager was very cheap! Approx 50 pence for a large glass! I have been told it is a popular destinations for gangs of british lads on weekend stag parties.....yikes! hope the atmosphere hasn't changed too much.Originally Posted by Harleybloke
I'm going back to Prague next year and would love to visit the church. Could you supply its name? Is it in the old town or further out?
From memory M'Lud, it isn't far from the centre of the city......
I was there last week and that is what prompted the question. The bullet holes outside and in the church as still as visible as ever and a small museum has been set up in the crypt. I thought of trying to get to the site of the actual assassination, but was put off by the three tram rides, two bus trips and four tube stops it required. Apparently, other than the removal of the tram lines it is largely unchanged. Just what kind of idiot Heydrich must have been to travel in an open car accompanied only by his driver ( who also got shot ! ).
Thanks for the replies.
Actually, the Czech fighters weren't killed - they commited suicide. One came out alive but died a few hours later.
Incidentally, taking my tour guide's advice, I only ever asked young people for directions etc. This was because they tend to speak English whereas the older people do not. The down side to this is that the younger people have very little knowledge of WW2 history and when I asked a pair of 20 year old guys as to where the church was ( I was in between two churchs in the correct street), they both violently disagreed as to which was the correct church and then started a fist-fight which I, and an old man passing by, had to break up. As it happens, the old man spoke perfect English and then gave me a fascinating talk on the battle in the church since he was one of the Czech firemen called to put their hoses into a window in the crypt and flood it to try and drown the resistance fighters. He was very unhappy to have to do this, but since the Germans kept up a very heavy machine gun fire on the window, they badly punctured all of the hoses and made flooding the crypt very difficult.
There was a very good documentary on the BBC about the assasination of Heydrich, and that is correct regarding the suicide of the cornered resistence fighters, they shot themselves in the crypt of the church rather than be captured by the Nazis and face the likliehood of dreadfull torture. They were betrayed by one of their own rank who was hanged after the war for supplying info to the Nazis that led to their downfall. In retribution for the assasination an estimated 2000 civilians were murdered and the town where the conspirators were from was obliterated by heavy artillery and explosives until there was literarly nothing left of it at all,after all the male inhabitants were shot. Its a very shocking story but at the same time the bravery and determination of the resistence fighters is very inspiring.
An excellent documentary and it's regularly shown on the history channel, which I can't get here.
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Hooked off the line
There's also the 1964 Czech movie Atentat which deals with Operation Anthropoid - the assassination of Heydrich.
And here's Christopher Lee outside said church:
I was in Prague in August.There was an exhibition on in the outer suburbs commemorating the assasination so the memory is still there.It was quite interesting.Amongst the exhibits was one of the sten guns.Apparently Heydichs car was on exhibition in Bratislava.There is also a permanent exhibition in the Military exhibition which includes the famous briefcase in which the gun was kept and a bullet ridden pullover.Drinks and food are as cheap as ever..4 Pounds for a Singapore Sling in the Art Noveau American Bar of The Municipal House.Also you must visit the Kino Lucerne which claims to be the oldest cinema in Europe.It is a real gem.I could not believe my eyes when i went into the auditorium.I have pics if anyone is interested.
A very arrogant one that believed to be untouchable.
As a younger man Christopher Lee would have been perfect casting for Heydrich.And here's Christopher Lee outside said church:
Bats.
Watching a documentary only recently, the person in front of camera pointed to some slotted openings at pavement level and stated that that was the actual place where some people fighting the Nazis had been flooded out of after a long battle.
Prior to seeing that programme I thought that the scene in the war film that used to appear on our screens some years ago with the long drawn out battle in the basement was just a great story and not real.
What was the name of the film?
This is indeed a superb film. it is shown reasonably regulary on TV.
When i was in Prague last year i visited an exhibition to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the assasination.Shows that the Czechs still remember and honour this,despite the ghastly reprisals visited on the population by the Nazis.
Very true Orpheum, many years whilst visiting Prague I was taken to the site of Lidice, the village destroyed by the Nazi's as part of their reprisals and where the village once stood there was now just a large cross. Very moving.
I remember watching Operation Daybreak when I was a kid and finding the ending terribly sad. Love to see it again.
The German TV film Attentat - Heydrich in Prag is based on the Heydrich assassination and I understand there's a Czech version also called Attentat. I suppose it's inevitable that lots of films will be called 'Attentat', rather than the actual codeword for the operation: anthropoid.
Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die 1943 is on the same subject..
Operation Daybreak (1975)
Channel 5
Saturday 13th November 2010 11.50-2.05pm
A very rare showing of the extremely underrated Operation Daybreak (1975) World War Two film based upon the true story of the assassination of Hitler's second in command ... the cultured, yet arrogant, viciously callous, mercilessly brutal and sadistic SS-General Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich (The Butcher of Prague) superbly played by Anton Diffring.
Operation Daybreak stars Anthony Andrews, Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw. Tautly directed by one of Britain’s finest ever directors ... Lewis Gilbert (Reach For the Sky, Carve Her Name With Pride, Sink the Bismarck etc) and shot on location in Prague.
The film was adapted from the book Seven Men at Daybreak by Alan Burgess and the screenplay was written by Ronald Harwood. (Harwood won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Pianist). The superior music score is by David Hentschel.
In 1942 Czechoslovakia, SS-General Reinhard Heydrich is appointed to become the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. The absolute terror and oppression that resulted caused Allied authorities in London to authorize a secret mission to kill the man who has come to be known as The Butcher of Prague. The film explores one of the most dangerous missions of the Second World War ... the planning ... the operation leading up to Heydrich's death and the terrible aftermath of the vicious reprisals inflicted by the SS and Gestapo.
Operation Daybreak is finally and deservedly given a 3 star rating in the Radio Times ... most reviews I’ve seen only give a 2 star rating.
The movie is available on DVD (region free and sourced from South Korea) however the DVD picture quality is average. Judging from the first showing on 6th November on Channel 5 ... the Channel 5 broadcast has far superior picture/audio quality.
Emma
Last edited by mrs_emma_peel; 08-11-10 at 12:25 AM.
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