Operation Anthropoid 80th Anniversary Exhibition Launches at Czech Embassy

On Friday afternoon, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Luxembourg hosted the opening of a new exhibition on the assassination attempt of senior Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich by soldiers of the Czechoslovakia Army on 27 May 1942.

On Friday 27 May 2022, the Czech Republic marked the 80th anniversary of Operation Anthropoid and the Lidice massacre that followed in June 1942. This new outdoor exhibition at the Czech Embassy commemorates one of the most audacious missions of the Second World War: the assassination attempt (codenamed Operation Anthropoid) of acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich, also known as the "Butcher of Prague", by Czechoslovak paratroopers, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, in Prague on 27 May 1942. Whilst the assassination attempt initally failed, the high-ranking German Nazi SS and police officer succumbed to his injuries just days later, on 4 June 1942. 

Vladimír Bärtl, the Czech Ambassador to Luxembourg, described the historical parallels with the resistance now taking place in Ukraine as “remarkable”. In his opening speech in the Embassy garden, Ambassador Bärtl explained how the mission was carried out by the Czechoslovakia Army in cooperation with the British Special Operations Executive 80 years ago, describing the event as "a unique example of civil and military resistance" and one of the "bravest acts" during the Second World War – Operation Anthropoid was the only successful government-organised assassination of a senior Nazi official.

Nevertheless,the Nazis retaliated to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by killing hundreds of men, women and children in the village of Lidice, which had been thought to be the hiding place of his assassins, on 9 June 1942. They burned down the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. As Ambassador Bärtl, explained the events of May-June 1942 later influenced the post-war reconstruction of the Czech Republic. He stressed the importance of "learn[ing] from the lessons of history", making reference to the Russia-Ukraine war and warning that "the appeasement policy didn't work then and is not working today". He added: "It is difficult to imagine that forced territorial concession could bring lasting peace. Ukraine 2022 must not be the Czechoslovakia of 1938".

Ambassador Bärtl's speech was followed by a guest performance by the Severáček children's choir, who had had travelled from the Ambassador's hometown of Liberec in the Czech Republic to Luxembourg to participate in the 14th European Youth Music Festival, which is taking place this year as part of Esch2022 – European Capital of Culture. The energetic young singers performed four songs: Moravian folk song Ej, děvča orešanské and English folk song Oh, Soldier, Soldier, both arranged by the late Czech composer and founder of Severáček, Milan Uherek, and 20th-century Czech composer Miroslav Raichl's Requiem for Lidice and Carriage in the Clouds. They concluded by singing the Czech and Ukrainian national anthems.

The performance was met with a round of applause, with the sun even breaking through the clouds to make a brief appearance.

Various ambassadors to Luxembourg, such as those of Ireland, Portugal and France, were present at the event, along with representatives of the Luxembourg Army and the press, among others.

The guests later explored the Operation Anthropoid exhibition itself, which is composed of various illustrated information panels (in English) on the outside gates of the Czech Embassy. Created in PDF format by the Military History Institute in Prague, this exhibition is currently being presented at various Czech Embassies around the world as part of the 80th anniversary of these historic events. On Friday, the British Foreign Secretary attended the reconstruction of events on the occasion of this anniversary in Prague. Ambassador Bärtl noted that some of the more explicit images had been removed from the panels outside the Czech Embassy in Luxembourg since it is located in a public space where children pass by regularly, although its message remains clear.

The exhibition is open to the public until 23 June 2022, after which the Czech Embassy will host a new exhibition about Pierre Werner.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Luxembourg is located at 2 Rond-point Robert Schuman in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg (L-2525).