Jozef Gabčík (8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942) was a Slovak soldier involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (one of the most important men in Nazi Germany). Gabčík was born in Palosnya in the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (today Poluvsie, part of Rajecké Teplice, Slovakia. He became a paratrooper of rotmistr (approx. UK Staff Sergeant) rank. At the end of 1941, he and Jan Kubiš secretly landed in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to plan the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, which they carried out on May 27, 1942. Heydrich was wounded, though his injuries were not considered fatal at the time. He was rushed to hospital, where it was discovered that he was suffering from blood poisoning, to which he succumbed several days later. The Nazi officials in the Protectorate carried out an extensive search for the two men; eventually, they found them, along with other paratroopers in an Orthodox Church in Prague. However, after a six hour battle, in which the Germans lost at least 14 killed and 21 wounded, Gabčík and the others, with the exception of Kubiš, who was seriously wounded by a grenade, committed suicide before the Nazis could reach them in the Church catacombs.[1] Kubiš was wounded in the battle and died shortly after arrival at the hospital.[2]
The village of Gabčíkovo in southern Slovakia is named after him, and one of the biggest dams on the Danube next to the village is named after the village. Jozef Gabčík also gave name to the "5th special forces regiment of Jozef Gabčík" of the Slovak Army, based in Žilina.
With the aim to commemorate the heroes of the Czech and Slovak Resistance, the Slovak National Museum in May 2007 opened an exhibition presenting one of the most important resistance actions in the whole Nazi-occupied Europe.
Notes
- ^ Ray R. Cowdery with Peter Vodenka: Reinhard Heydrich: Assassination. Victory WW2 Publishing Ltd. (1994) Lakeville, MN, USA
- ^ McDonald, Callum: The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS “Butcher of Prague”. ISBN 0-306-80860-9
See also
External links
- The Prague Daily Monitor: Experts find wartime paratroopers' grave
- Operation Anthropoid Exhibition in Slovak National Museum
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