The war in Ukraine was also reflected in the commemoration of the anniversary of the assassination of Heydrich
Updates: 27.05.2022 20:03
Released: 27.05.2022, 16:06
Prague – The Czechia commemorated the 80th anniversary of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the deputy imperial protector, this year for the first time as an official day marked as National Defiance Day. The reconstruction of the attack took place in Liben, Prague, in the morning, which was carried out with the help of the domestic resistance by two paratroopers sent from Britain – the Czech Jan Kubiš and the Slovak Jozef Gabčík. Representatives of the Czech, Slovak and British governments appreciated the heroism of the paratroopers at the reverential gathering. They likened the fight against the Nazi regime at the time to Ukraine’s current efforts to resist Russian aggression.
Paratroopers Gabčík and Kubiš attacked Heydrich’s car on May 27, 1942 in Prague. The assassination of the most powerful man in the then Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and one of the co-creators of the Holocaust is a war for the greatest act of European domestic resistance during World War II. He contributed to the post-war reconstruction of Czechoslovakia, to the fact that it could become one of the victorious states.
Today, he described the assassination of President Heydrich Miloš Zeman as a key event in the history of Europe and the world. The attack was behind the subsequent victims of the Czech nation, because it was possible to prevent much larger victims, the president said at an evening ceremonial meeting in the building of the National Museum.
Hundreds of people were watching the reconstruction of the attack on Heydrich in Liben, Prague, this morning. The commemorative event began with the flight of the Hawker Hurricane fighter, which was fought by the pilots of the 310th Czechoslovak Squadron in the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
After the reconstruction, the chief followed a memorial service at the Anthropoid memorial with the laying of wreaths, which was attended by British diplomacy Liz Trussová and her Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský (Pirates), Czech and Slovak Defense Ministers Jana Černochová (ODS) and Jaroslav Naď, army representatives, Prague, eighth boroughs or ambassadors of several states.
The British Foreign Office provided pride in the fact that Czechoslovak paratroopers were trained in her country. According to her, after the end of the Cold War, the feeling that the world had changed prevailed, but the current Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin’s efforts to destroy the basic values of the civilized world show that it is necessary to be strong and not back down, she said. “We must be inspired by those who sacrificed everything for freedom,” she recalled the events of May 27, 1942.
The Ministry of Defense Černochová and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lipavský reminded that the heroism of the assassins and the memory of the victims of the cruel Nazi retribution became a symbol and memento of the never-ending struggle for freedom and democracy, which is now especially true in Ukraine. They expressed the hope that Ukraine, with the support of the Allies, would eventually win the war with Russia.
During the ensuing negotiations, Lipavský agreed with the head of British diplomacy on the need for further military and political support from Ukraine, and I am working to rebuild the country of invaded Russia. According to Truss, it is important to create a recovery plan for Ukraine, but also to protect the borders of Europe more, including, for example, the Balkan states.
The memory of the paratroopers from Operation Anthropoid in Prague was also honored by the Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová by laying wreaths at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Resslova Street. The church, in the crypt of which Gabčík and Kubiš hid and later, together with five other paratroopers, died in June 1942 after the fight, the Slovak president described as a strong place. “I’m very glad I was able to see it, including the authentic details,” she told reporters. It was not possible to visit the crypt today due to the reconstruction.
Like Zeman, the Slovak president ranked the successful attack on Heydrich among the most important diversionary actions of World War II. “I am glad that, thanks to Jozef Gabčík, this attack also has a strong Slovak footprint,” Čaputová said at the National Museum in the evening. It linked the events of 80 years ago to the current war in Ukraine. According to her, Russian aggression and these historical events remind us that the protection of democracy can never be underestimated.
Reverential events related to the anniversary of the assassination have taken place and will take place in several other places in Prague and other cities. The memorial in Panenské Břežany on Saturday to present the assassination of Heydrich in virtual reality. Visitors will bring special glasses to it. It is a pilot project that will show the course of the assassination from the position of an independent observer and from the position of individual actors, ie Kubiš, Gabčík or witness Marie Navarová.
