The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: The History of the Central European Nation from Its Founding to Its Breakup by Charles River Editors

Author:Charles River Editors [Editors, Charles River]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Pictures of the damaged car and tram

Despite the poor toss, Heydrich had suffered severe injuries in the blast, the worst being a large piece of shrapnel which ripped through his back and deep into his spleen. However, the Gestapo chief was so full of adrenaline that he didn’t feel his injuries, and thinking he was unharmed, he jumped out of the car and staggered towards Gabcik, trying to get a clear shot with his 7.65mm pistol. Gabcik stood for several moments, staring stupefied at the tall, blond man in the black uniform stumbling towards him through the smoke and dust. Then, despite the shock of the explosion, the Czech made a stumbling run uphill. As he fled, the crack of pistol shots sounded behind him, and bullets whined past him. Desperately, he jumped behind a telephone pole and fired back at his black-garbed pursuer. Heydrich moved behind the damaged tram and returned fire, hoping to cripple or kill Gabcik.

Gabcik began to despair, knowing that SS men would arrive on the scene very soon. However, as the gunfight continued, Heydrich suddenly dropped to the ground; the pain from his wound suddenly struck him, and he writhed in agony for several moments. Gabcik, terrified, did not return to finish his target off but fled uphill, diving through the open door of a butcher shop up the road.

Despite the severity of his injuries, the mortally wounded Heydrich did not die shortly after the grenade seriously injured him. In fact, he lived for more than a week, dying eight days later on June 3rd at precisely the moment his relieved doctors believed he was about to make a full recovery. Heydrich received a state funeral from the Third Reich in a gigantic Berlin ceremony. After lying in state for two days in the courtyard of Prague Castle, the Gestapo general's remains journeyed by aircraft to the Reich's capital, where he was laid to rest amid solemn speeches by prominent Nazis (including Adolf Hitler himself) to the sound of the funeral march from the "Twilight of the Gods" by Richard Wagner.

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