this is the climax of operation anthropoid it's so famous that there's a new film a follower a remake of operation daybreak because this the place where the two paratroopers yawn and Joseph waited two hours to ambush and kill the Reich protector ran hard hydrant there's the crack [Applause] see 7th of May forty-two if we come over here we can see a display board written in check Czechoslovakia Hitler Joseph being flown over here being safe housed several resistance fighters this is the map showing the journey from the residence of Renoir Heydrich and here is where he
was ambushed by these two paratroopers and you can see the blown out car from the hand bombs that were special types of hand grenades and down here is a modern placing of where it all happened right on the tight Bend and if we follow the camera downhill we'll show you the exact place where the assassination took place there's the monument and the Czech flag this is the exact place where the car was ambushed the paratroopers planned several variants of assassination of Heydrich on the 27th of May 1942 in the morning he drove in a black
Mercedes from his residence he was a couple of hours late and at 10:35 the car slowed right down on the corner which is where the second post is which is the lamppost the car turned round that fender is almost stationary is where the two paratroopers had been ready Joseph was fighting under his cloak a Sten gun at the moment when the car pulled into the sharp curve Heydrich should have been covered by a lethal burst of bullets at this critical moment however the submachine gun failed and yon pulled out from his briefcase one of the
prepared special bombs of the pack up and the explosion float through the vehicles body ripped out the right door and small parts the vehicle shell and tiny particles of the car upholstery punctured through a seat backrest into Hydra chest the wounded Heydrich was taken to hospital [Applause] and operates don't immediately however he had a painful lingering death because he didn't die until the 4th of June 1942 at 7:00 a.m. at first it was thought that he was going to survive but it was the fragments of poisoned his blood this was the exact spot [Laughter] [Applause]
one of the paratroopers [Applause] cycled off but one of the other power to was drop this briefcase here if Heydrich had ordered his driver just to drive on he would have lived but he made a mistake he stood up took his pistol out of his holster like firing the assassins [Applause] get blown up before we conspire and he was staggering and his driver chase the other paratrooper hittin the building and there was no way out so he came out he managed to shoot the driver twice in the chest when he died so both men escaped
the radio broadcasts about the condition of the Reich protector in their hiding place in the Church of sin Cyril and Methodius and the operation anthropoid climaxed here and it's interesting to note though I've spoken to the young checks and some Vermont interest in history who never been to this place we don't know where it is and even people passing by some of them weren't able to tell me where but this is the intimacy of history because just where the grass finishes here the car turn round and in line with this Brown monument is where Heydrich
the butcher of Prague was [Music] [Applause] Center the battle for the church since Cyril and Methodius this aperture in the church wall inside the trip they were fighting right protector reinhard heydrich and the bullet holes is testimony to the fact that this was the battle site where Germans tried to kill currently which we were hiding within until the bullet hole was a park and below the aperture he's now a monument what happened when the resistance was protracted from the paratroopers the German summoned me check fire brigade [Applause] intruder flood secret to stun the man with
tear gas [Laughter] [Applause] now you might ask yourself where did the bullets come from well they came from this building here across the road and it's a marvelous experience being here as I said in part one in the video because there's a museum and in there there's a 20-minute film in English about the assassination of Heydrich and the museum shows artifacts such as briefcase used by the paratroopers grenades light machine gun used to blast holes in the wall of this church and this is a very poignant and proud place that the Czechs like to show
the visitors they stood up against Nazi oppression against the butcher of Frog Reinhard Heydrich who lived in a mansion not far outside of Prague and who came to work daily and worked in the castle there's a picture in a museum showing him with Hitler and Himmler at the castle in 1939 when Heydrich was just a member of the entourage so this Papa Chur in the crypt of the Church of sin Cyril and Methodius is a very poignant centerpiece check history during World War two in particular [Applause] this is the battle site of the siege by
the Nazis against the Czech paratroopers who were hiding in this church and in the crypt some of the paratroopers were on guard up on the top floor under those arches and from there they used their pistols and machine guns and they were firing at the Nazi soldiers who were killed during the battle lying on the floor here and what is pretty interesting this is where the entrance to the original crypt was this is where the paratroopers were firing bullets of the Germans Gestapo and this is where the traitor was standing when he was trying to
appeal to the brave paratroopers to give themselves up and maybe they get a pardon but they refused to surrender the Crypt was sealed right here and the battle had moved from that Church were injured soldiers the paratroopers were either killed or they killed themselves with cyanide tablets and pistols to the head and the remaining paratroopers fought it out in the crypt so this church is a very famous symbol for Czech resistance against Nazi oppression in the year 1942 early in the morning in June I'm in a very special place in Prague tarnished Travels comes from
the Church of since cyril and methodius it's world-famous because it was included in a film for operation daybreak shot in 1975 director Terry um who made on Bond films such as Minh Ranger operation daybreak was a true story it was based upon the fact that the right protector reinhard heydrich fascinated by Czech paratroopers who were flowing from England he was the butcher of Prague he was Hitler's right-hand man and in the film he was played by the German officer who is always chosen to play German officers and fella called Alan Dearing he had steely blue
eyes spying war German English he plays the officer in the film he's assassinated in the streets of Prague the paratroopers in the true story they kill the right protector and they hide in Prague afterwards mission accomplished but one person betrays them and the Germans find that the paratroopers are hiding in this crypt in this church and in the film was represents the story you've got the window of the Crypt here and looking out onto the street and the Germans call the fire brigade in and two hoses are put in through the aperture and they fled
the Crypt and in the film the true story is represented by the paratroopers putting all their ammunition in the coffin departments you see the actors putting in the ammunition they're above the water line to keep it dry and looking along the cottage to the Crypt you can see the stairs that go up into the nave of the church which was sealed so the paratroopers were stuck here some of them were badly wounded and they in the end shot themselves a great act of bravery based upon betrayal this crypt really super special place to come to
in Prague I've seen the film several times operation daybreak I have in my collection it's just been remade in 2016 I think and the films fought and for coin or amphipod of course it'll be a modern snazzy version of the original and you've got the busts of the paratroopers in the Crypt here they're all about 28 30 32 years old all died heroes and in the film you see the paratroopers shooting up at the Gestapo and the soldiers in the name of the church and the Crypt was eventually sealed so the paratroopers are condemned to
death here hopelessly trapped and if the film wasn't shot in this crypt obviously a studio was constructed around the original configuration of this film to reenact the true story and in the end of the film you see the two last paratroopers shooting each other in the head as the water rises and the water pours in through the aperture so it's truly wonderful experience to be here representing the aftermath of the assassination of the right protector reinhard heydrich the butcher of Prague and this museum is beneath the church it's free and you no longer need an
appointment to visit the Crypt so this is one of the great reasons for visiting Prague Hitler came here and it is truly a historical spiritual experience to be
