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Consequences and the helpers’ fates

June 1942–1943

The military operation ended, but persecution continued. Its consequences connect the history of domestic resistance, Nazi repression and the Czechoslovak government-in-exile.

The Heydrich Terror struck people who had helped and others who took no part in the operation. The Nazis destroyed Lidice and Ležáky. Their histories must remain distinct: Ležáky was connected to the Libuše radio and the separate SILVER A team. Violence against the villages was a Nazi decision.

Ruined buildings and rubble at the destroyed village of Lidice. — Lidice after the village’s destruction, June 1942.
Sources, licences and acknowledgements
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1993-020-26A · photographer unknown · Original · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
Uses the previously cropped Commons version; Chrona variants are resized and compressed. Derived images retain CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

The parachutists’ relatives and helpers were also imprisoned in Terezín’s Small Fortress. On 24 October 1942 the SS murdered a large group from this network in Mauthausen. Others were killed in January 1943. The victims were not only ANTHROPOID’s helpers. Sources differ on numbers and some details, so we do not combine them into one apparently precise total.

Together with other developments, the operation and Nazi reprisals contributed to a more favourable diplomatic climate for Czechoslovak exile leaders. Britain’s letter of 5 August 1942 stated that future borders would not be influenced by changes from 1938 or later. The letter did not itself determine the borders or declare the Munich Agreement void from its signing. Saying simply that ‘the attack reversed Munich’ would obscure those distinctions.

The story connects a military mission with helpers’ daily work and the lives of people subjected to Nazi violence. The map lets you follow preparation, refuges, the attack and subsequent imprisonment. Behind every place are people and relationships through which you can explore further.

Places

Lidice — a village destroyed in Nazi reprisals
A village destroyed in the repression after the attack.
Ležáky — a hamlet connected to the Libuše radio
The hamlet’s fate and its connection to SILVER A.
Terezín Small Fortress — fortification, Gestapo prison and memorial
Helpers’ imprisonment and the transport’s departure point.
Mauthausen — concentration camp and murder of the support network
Murders of supporters and relatives.

You have followed the main story. You can return to the people who helped, trace the journey from attack to crypt, or explore the consequences.

Sources

Atentát: Operace Anthropoid 1941–1942 · Michal Burian, Aleš Knížek, Jiří Rajlich, Eduard Stehlík · VHÚ Praha
Original citations and evidence accompany the underlying accepted claims; especially relevant are PDF/printed pages 48–65, 76–80 and 90–93.
This link leads to information about the publication. Chrona does not host a scan of the book.
Operace Anthropoid · Vojenský historický ústav Praha · výstavní panely
PDF pages 20–28 (preparation, domestic network, flight and landing), 32–36 (attack, repression and refuge), 40–42 (battle and aftermath).
Nepostradatelná úloha domácích podporovatelů operace Anthropoid · Martin Jindra · Paměť a dějiny 2/2012 · ÚSTR
PDF pages 1–6 (establishing the refuge, arrivals, Zelenka, the Moravec family and supplies), 10–15 (discovery, trial, executions and the Fafek family).
Výsadek čs. parašutistů představoval jednu z nejhazardnějších akcí RAF · Ministerstvo obrany České republiky
Sections on No. 138 Squadron and Směr Československo, particularly Bellasis, Tangmere and the three teams’ shared flight.
Heydrichiáda a terezínská represivní zařízení · Památník Terezín
Chronological sections for 23 and 24 October 1942 and passages on the Small Fortress police prison.
Poprava 262 českých vlastenců v Mauthausenu 24. října 1942 · Ministerstvo obrany České republiky · Válečné hroby
Passages on the transfer from Terezín, the sham medical examination and the executions of 24 October.
Reinhard Heydrich: In Depth · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia
Sections Creating a Nazi Party Intelligence Service, Resistance and Reprisal in Bohemia and Moravia, and Assassination.
Ukrývali Gabčíka s Kubišem. Rodiny z Plzně a Rokycan zaplatily za účast v odboji životem · Český rozhlas Plzeň
Paragraphs 63–70, especially the section on the parachutists’ first refuge in Rokycany.
Pietní akt k 84. výročí lidické tragédie · Památník Lidice
Opening paragraph: 10 June, the Horák/Stříbrný pretext, 173 men, women and children; passage on the new village.
Terezín – malá pevnost, ÚAN 35335 · Národní památkový ústav · Státní archeologický seznam ČR
Location description and boundary precision: Small Fortress and approaches, with uncertainty of approximately 50 metres.
Malá pevnost Terezín a perzekuce mládeže · Dalibor Krčmář · Památník Terezín
Sections on Terezín before 1941, establishment and character of the prison, living conditions, and the Small Fortress after 1945.
Forced Labour in the Quarries · Mauthausen Memorial
Passages on DESt, the quarries, forced labour and the punishment detachment.
Historie osady Ležáky · Památník Ležáky
Sections on the settlement’s origins, Libuše, the June investigation, destruction and memorial grounds; paragraphs 1–30.
Atentát 80: Oduznání Mnichova a atentát na Reinharda Heydricha na křižovatkách československých a velmocenských zájmů · Karel Straka · Vojenský historický ústav Praha
Introduction and sections on the Intelligence Department’s plan, Beneš’s position and British diplomacy; conclusion on Eden’s letter of 5 August 1942.