Heydrich sharp turn

Operation Anthropoid Memorial

The monument stands near the buildings IRSM ASCR - near bus stops and interchanges Vychovatelna to Prosek and to street V Holesovickach

Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis two Czechoslovakian paratroopers involved in Operation Anthropoid, were awaiting the arrival of the acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich at a carefully picked out location, in a sharp turn of the, at the time, Kirchmayerova Třída (Avenue), nowadays Zenklova, in the back then suburb of Libeň with an intent to assassinate him.

The pillar (nine meter high) is a basal geometric body forming a pedestal for three silhouettes

The triangular cross section column is based in the shape of the wedge found on the national flag, which we can notice among the silhouettes. Sharp edges symbolize a sword blade, recklessness and battering of tyranny that infl icts humiliation and suffering. This is the reason that coarse sheet metal was used on the walls of the cylinder, which is to evoke an impression of harshness and expression. Its corroding character refers to the destroyed and blemished Czechoslovak statehood.

Three silhouettes stand on its edge in almost suicidal stands,

Basic concept of the monument is the symbol in the form of a triangular wedge of the Czech, or better yet Czechoslovak flag

Two of the silhouettes represent Czechoslovak soldiers and the third is a representative of the civilians, who’ve played their integral role in the resistance.

The position in the shape of “Vitruvius” cross is inspired by the fi gure found on the famous painting of a man by Leonardo. Th is “anatomical” position of a man is an innuendo on the name of the entire mission itself – Anthropoid – i.e. man. Th e silhouettes are depicted as realistic, but without portrait features of specifi c people. Th ey are intended to depersonalize out the production line approach to humans as a battle product. The silhouettes are an innuendo of forgetting real bravery in which only the truly bold step out of the crowd and in time they become the “unknown private” of history.

Reinhard Heydrich, the third man of the Third Reich,

A bronze slab is set into the ground in front of the Memorial bearing the sign:

(translated)"Here on this spot on May 27, 1942 at 10:35, the heroic Czechoslovak paratroopers Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík carried out one of the most signifi cant resistant acts of the Second World War – assassination of the acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich. Th ey could never complete their mission without help from hundred Czech patriots, who paid for their bravery by their own lives."

The Memorial’s design

was decided based on a competition opened to artists and architects, announced by the City Hall of the Municipal District of Prague 8, winner of which was the joint design by sculptors David Moješčík and Michal Šmeral and architects Miroslava Tůmová and Jiří Gulbis.

The Operation Anthropoid Memorial had its festive opening on Wednesday May 27, 2009

at 10:35, which was, to the minute, exactly 67 years since the execution of the assassination on the Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich.