Assassination of the Butcher of Prague

On 4 June 1942, one of the most powerful figurers of the Nazi Third Riech, Reinhard, Heydrich, the ‘Butcher of Prague’ and architect of the ‘Final solution’, died from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt carried out just days before. His death caused shockwaves in the Nazi State, and resulted in savage reprisals, with Hitler ordering the annihilation of two village populations thought to be involved in assisting the assassins. Thousands of others were sent to concentration camps where many were tortured and executed. The British trained Czech assassins, part of ‘Operation Anthropoid’, were eventually betrayed in their hideout in a Prague church.

The initial battle to capture the Czech operatives in the choir stalls after many hours resulted in many German casualties. However, the German SS-troops and Gestapo soon realised another four operatives were in the vaults of the church, resulting in more fighting. Hitler ordered they be taken alive. This book provides a detailed and fascinating account of the assassination and subsequent events, hour by hour, and day by day.

About the Author

David W. Cameron is a Canberra-based author who has written several books on Australian military and convict history, as well as human and primate evolution, including over 60 internationally peer-reviewed papers for various journals and book chapters. He received 1st Class Honours in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Sydney and later went on to complete his PhD in palaeoanthropology at the Australian National University. He is a former Australian Research Council (ARC) Post Doctorial Fellow at the Australian National University (School of Archaeology) and an ARC QEII Fellow at the University of Sydney (Department of Anatomy and Histology).

He has participated and led several international fieldwork teams in Australia, the Middle East (Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates), Europe (Hungary) and Asia (Japan, Vietnam and India) and has participated in many conferences and museum studies throughout the world.