REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Detlef Bothe
Born: July 24, 1965 Birthplace: Brunswick, Lower Saxony, Germany | Reinhard Heydrich
Born: March 7, 1904 Birthplace: Halle an der Saale, German Empire Death: June 4, 1942, Prague-Libeň, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia (sepsis after being wounded by explosion) |
Jamie Dornan
Born: May 1, 1982 Birthplace: Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK | Jan Kubiš
Born: June 24, 1913 Birthplace: Dolní Vilémovice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (mortally wounded in church battle) |
Cillian Murphy
Born: May 25, 1976 Birthplace: Douglas, Cork, Ireland | Josef Gabčík
Born: April 8, 1912 Birthplace: Poluvsie, Rajecké Teplice, Austria–Hungary Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by gunshot to prevent capture) |
Charlotte Le Bon
Born: September 4, 1986 Birthplace: Montréal, Québec, Canada | Marie Kovárníková
Born: February 16, 1914 Birthplace: Ohrazenice, Central Bohemia, Austria-Hungary Death: October 24, 1942, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria (shot) |
Anna Geislerová
Born: April 17, 1976 Birthplace: Prague, Czechoslovakia | Liběna Fafková
Birthplace: Austria-Hungary Death: October 24, 1942, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria (shot) |
Toby Jones
Born: September 7, 1967 Birthplace: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK | Jan Zelenka-Hajský
Born: March 3, 1895 Birthplace: Stone Újezd, Austria-Hungary Death: June 17, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by poison to escape capture) |
Marcin Dorocinski
Born: June 22, 1973 Birthplace: Milanówek, Mazowieckie, Poland | Ladislav Vaněk
Born: June 19, 1906 Birthplace: Olomouc, Moravia, Austria-Hungary Death: October 1993, Prague, Czech Republic |
Václav Neuzil
Born: October 4, 1979 Birthplace: Plzen, Czechoslovakia | Josef Valčík
Born: November 2, 1914 Birthplace: Valašské Klobouky, Zlín, Austria-Hungary Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by gunshot to prevent capture) |
Harry Lloyd
Born: November 17, 1983 Birthplace: London, England, UK | Adolf Opálka
Born: January 4, 1915 Birthplace: Rešice, Austria-Hungary Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by gunshot to escape capture) |
Sam Keeley
Birthplace: Offaly, Ireland | Josef Bublík
Born: February 12, 1920 Birthplace: Bánov, Czechoslovakia Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by gunshot to escape capture) |
Mish Boyko
Birthplace: UK | Jan Hrubý
Born: March 4, 1915 Birthplace: Austria–Hungary Death: June 18, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by gunshot to prevent capture) |
Alena Mihulová
Born: May 4, 1965 Birthplace: Brno, Czechoslovakia | Marie Moravcová
Born: August 24, 1898 Birthplace: Prague, Austria-Hungary Death: June 17, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (suicide by cyanide capsule to prevent arrest) |
Bill Milner
Born: March 4, 1995 Birthplace: Surrey, England, UK | Vlastimil "Aťa" Moravec
Born: March 17, 1921 Birthplace: Čerčany, Czechoslovakia Death: October 24, 1942, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria (executed) |
Jiří Šimek
Born: 1991 Birthplace: Tabor, Slovenia | Karel Čurda
Born: October 10, 1911 Birthplace: Austria–Hungary Death: April 29, 1947, Prague, Czechoslovakia (hanged for treason) |
Roman Zach
Born: January 1, 1973 Birthplace: Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia | Vladimír Petřek
Born: June 19, 1908 Birthplace: Olomouc, Moravia, Austria-Hungary Death: September 5, 1942, Kobylisy, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (executed) |
Prepared in early October of 1941 by the British Special Operations Executive and approved by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, Operation Anthropoid was a Czechoslovakian-led mission to assassinate the Nazi's third in command, SS officer Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the head of Nazi forces in Czechoslovakia. In order to carry out the assassination, soldiers from the Czechoslovakian army-in-exile, including Josef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy in the film) and Jan Kubiš (portrayed by Jamie Dornan), parachuted into their occupied homeland of Czechoslovakia during the night of December 28-29, 1941. In a city on lockdown, the paratroopers recruited the help of local loyalists in order to blend in and lay low while figuring out how to carry out the assassination.
Yes. Like in the movie, the real Josef Gabčík injured himself during the jump, and he received medical attention through a reliable member of the resistance movement. -Assassination book
No. In the Anthropoid movie, Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan) is initially so scared of his assignment that his hands shake whenever he aims his weapon. While fact-checking Anthropoid, we learned that this is an entirely fictional character trait given to Dornan's character to make him seem even more courageous in the movie's climax. -The A.V. Club
Yes. As SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich's black Mercedes 320 C convertible (chauffeured by SS-Oberscharführer Johannes Klein) slowed down to round a sharp curve leading into V Holešovičkách Street, Josef Gabčík jumped in front of the vehicle holding a STEN machine gun. As he was about to fire at Heydrich, his machine gun failed. Resorting to plan B, Jan Kubiš pulled a special bomb from his briefcase that had a highly sensitive impact fuse. He pulled the pin and with an underhand motion he attempted to toss it into the Reich Protector's convertible. Instead, the bomb exploded above the car's running board, just forward of the right rear fender. It punctured the body and blew open the right door, but seemingly did nothing else (Assassination book). Watch a recreation of the Reinhard Heydrich assassination attempt.
The May 27, 1942 assassination attempt left Reinhard Heydrich with critical but seemingly survivable injuries. At 3:26 pm on the day of the blast, SS-Standartenführer Horst Böhme reported the results of Heydrich's first operation to Berlin via teleprint: "…a lacerated wound to the left of the back vertebrae without damage to the spinal cord. The projectile, a piece of sheet metal, shattered the 11th rib, punctured the stomach lining, and finally lodged in the spleen. The wound contains a number of horsehair and hair, probably material originating from the upholstery. The dangers: festering of the pleura due to pleurisy. During the operation the spleen was removed." Roughly eight days later, Heydrich died from sepsis after infection had set in. -Assassination book
Yes, like in the movie, the Gestapo tortured Aťa Moravec and stupefied him with alcohol. He broke after they showed him his mother's head floating in a fish tank. Aťa revealed the whereabouts of the parachutists when he told the Gestapo that his mother had instructed him to go to the catacombs of the Karel Boromejsky Church if he was ever in trouble. -The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich
Yes. As the Nazis swarmed the inside of the church, the battle shifted to the church crypt, with the only visible entrance being a small ventilation opening on the outside of the church. By now, Adolf Opálka and Josef Bublík had shot themselves in order to prevent capture after being wounded. Jan Kubiš eventually bled to death from multiple wounds from grenade blasts. The Nazis then attempted to use teargas and fire brigade water hoses to fill the crypt. Before long, a secret door to the underground chamber was discovered under a carpet near the altar. The Germans blew up the stone slab door with explosives, revealing a steep staircase leading down to the crypt. Before the Germans could reach them, the four remaining paratroopers took their own lives with their pistols. -Assassination book
Watch a short documentary detailing the day of the assassination, then view a Reinhard Heydrich biography that features home movie footage of the high-ranking Nazi official with his wife and children.