Reinhard Heydrich, Hitler's 'man with the iron heart' and one of the most dangerous Nazi officials, was targeted for assassination by Czech resistance fighters Jan Gabčík and Jan Kubiš on May 27, 1942. After parachuting into Czechoslovakia and hiding in abandoned tunnels, the assassins waited in the Libeň district of Prague. When Heydrich's car stopped, Gabčík fired his Sten gun but it jammed, and Kubiš's bomb throw missed, demonstrating how even meticulously planned operations can fail due to mechanical failures and human error.
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Reinhardt Heydrich The Only Nazi Hitler Feared Part 3 #shorts #viralAdded:
Gabcik and Kubis.
But heavy snow blinds the crew making navigation nearly impossible.
So they accidentally drop Gabcik and Kubis at the wrong location.
Instead of landing east of Pilsen, they end up east of Prague.
As they approach the ground, Gabcik misjudges the height and injures his left foot.
Now they have no idea where they are.
The two soldiers bury their parachutes in the snow and take shelter in the abandoned tunnels of an old stone quarry.
Their landing hasn't gone unnoticed.
During the night, a local gamekeeper heard the plane, climbed onto the roof of his house, and saw two parachutes heading toward him.
The next morning, he finds the buried parachutes and follows a trail of footprints in the snow.
It doesn't take him long to find Gabcik and Kubis and confront them.
The young men pretend to be surveyors, but their cover story quickly falls apart, and they reluctantly admit the truth.
Luckily, the gamekeeper wants to help them. They're stunned to find out they've landed 20 miles from Prague, far from their contacts. They consider stretching a wire across the street to force his car to slow down, but time is running out. They hear rumors that Heydrich might leave Prague soon.
The pressure mounts and they need to move quickly.
May 26, 1942.
In a magnificent concert hall, Heydrich and his wife enjoy compositions by his father, Bruno.
Kubis holds the explosives.
They pack two briefcases. One contains the disassembled Sten gun, while the other holds two bombs. To an observer, the briefcases look ordinary. The weapons are hidden beneath layers of fresh grass. It's the perfect cover.
With wartime food shortages, many locals keep rabbits, so carrying grass for feed is a common sight.
The next morning, Reinhard Heydrich's day begins peacefully.
It's a fresh spring morning. He finishes breakfast and plays with his three children. His wife is pregnant with a fourth.
At around 10:00, he leaves the safety of his castle with his chauffeur.
On a narrow street in the Libeň district on the outskirts of Prague, Gabčík waits.
Kubiš is positioned here, just a few meters away. Both have stood here for over an hour.
Tense, pulls the trigger.
But nothing happens.
Months of training for this one moment and the gun jams.
Maybe grass clogged the mechanism. The Sten had a reputation for jamming easily.
Or maybe it's just bad luck. We'll never know.
Heydrich thinks there's only one attacker, so he yells at his driver to stop and draws his pistol.
Kubiš seizes the moment, but he misjudges his throw.
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