Jozef Gabčík Jozef Gabčík ( 8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942 ) was a Slovak soldier in the Czechoslovak army involved in Operation Anthropoid , the assassination of acting Reichsprotektor ( Reich - Protector ) of Bohemia and Moravia , SS - Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich . Biography . Gabčík was born 1912 in Palosnya , Slovak territory in Austria - Hungary ( today Poluvsie , part of Rajecké Teplice , Žilina district , Slovakia ) . He learned to be a farrier , as well as a blacksmith . He was also taught clock making at the village of Kostelec Nad Vltavou ( Bohemia ) . He was taught by local master blacksmith J . Kunike . He lived with the Kunike family in their house of which still stands together with the outbuilding and yard which was used as a smithy . The house is located some 50 meters down a small hill which leads from the village centre where the church stands . In 1927 so the school records show that he attended School in Business Studies at Kovarov near to Kostelec Nad Vltavou . The building which housed the school is today the Municipal Office . A marble plaque was erected in 2010 , together with historical documents on the wall there . These documents were all placed there by the citizens of Kovarov . Jozef at one time was working at a chemicial plant in Žilina until 1939 . He fled Czechoslovakia during World War II for Great Britain , where he was trained as a paratrooper . He became a " rotmistr " ( approx . UK Staff Sergeant ) in rank . The Free Czechoslovaks , as he and other self - exiled Czechoslovaks were called , were stationed at Cholmondeley Castle near Malpas in Cheshire . The assassination in Prague . Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were airlifted along with seven soldiers from Czechoslovakia ’ s army - in - exile in the United Kingdom and two other groups named " Silver A " and " Silver B " ( who had different missions ) by a Royal Air Force Halifax of No . 138 Squadron into Czechoslovakia at 10pm on 28 December 1941 . In Prague , they contacted several families and anti - Nazi organisations who helped them during the preparations for the assassination . On 27 May 1942 , at 10 : 30 AM , Heydrich proceeded on his daily commute from his home in Panenské Břežany to Prague Castle . Gabčík and Kubiš waited at the tram stop on the curve near Bulovka Hospital in Prague 8 - Libeň . As Heydrich ’ s open - topped Mercedes - Benz neared the pair , Gabčík stepped in front of the vehicle , trying to open fire , but his Sten gun jammed . Heydrich ordered his driver , SS - Oberscharführer Klein , to stop the car . When Heydrich stood up to try to shoot Gabčík , Kubiš threw a modified anti - tank grenade at the vehicle , and its fragments ripped through the car ’ s right - rear fender , embedding shrapnel and fibres from the upholstery into Heydrich ’ s body , even though the grenade failed to enter the car . Kubiš was also injured by the shrapnel . Heydrich , apparently unaware of his shrapnel injuries , got out of the car , returned fire and tried to chase Gabčík but soon collapsed . Klein returned from his abortive attempt to chase Kubiš , and Heydrich ordered him to chase Gabčík . Klein was shot twice by Gabčík ( who was now using his revolver ) and wounded in the pursuit . The assassins were initially convinced that the attack had failed . Heydrich was rushed to Bulovka Hospital , where it was discovered that he was suffering from blood poisoning . There Heydrich went into shock , dying on the morning of 4 June 1942 . Aftermath and attempted capture of the assassins . In the aftermath of the assassination of so - called " Heydrichiade , " a rigorous investigation was instigated . The investigation determined the assassination was planned and carried out by the Czech Resistance with assistance of the British . The oppression and persecution of the defiant Czechs reached its peak following the failure of Nazi soldiers to capture the assassins alive . More than 13 , 000 people were ultimately arrested and tortured , including the girlfriend of Jan Kubiš , Anna Malinová , who died at Mauthausen - Gusen concentration camp . First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka ' s aunt , Marie Opálková , was executed in Mauthausen on 24 October 1942 . His father , Viktor Jarolím , was also killed . Among the unfortunate was the native of Kostelec nad Vltavou , JUDr . Jan Fleischmann . It was known locally that Josef visited Jan Fleischmann who was a friend in Kostelec and Vltavou before the assassination of Heydrich . After the assassination , the visit was found out as Karel Čurda had informed Gestapo and the Nazis arrested Jan Fleischmann and took him to Pankrác where he was tortured and finally executed . The Nazi officials in the Protectorate carried out an extensive search for the two men . Eventually , the Germans found them , along with other paratroopers , hiding in Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague . However , after a six - hour gun 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 take them alive in the Church catacombs . Kubiš was wounded in the gun battle and died shortly after arrival at the hospital . Recognition . The village of Gabčíkovo in southern Slovakia is named after Gabčík , and one of the biggest dams on the Danube next to the village is named after the village . Jozef Gabčík ' s name was also given to the 5 . pluk špeciálneho určenia ( " 5th special forces regiment of Jozef Gabčík " ) part of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic , based in Žilina . With the aim of commemorating 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 .