Josef Valčík
Born(1914-11-02)2 November 1914
Died18 June 1942(1942-06-18) (aged 27)
Allegiance
Service/branch
Years of service
  • 1936–1939
  • 1940–1942
RankPodporučík (Lieutenant)
UnitSpecial Operations Executive
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsCzechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
Josef Valčík wanted poster. Note that he is misidentified as "Miroslav" Valčík, his place of birth is wrongly given as Hodonín/Göding, and the date of birth is erroneous as well.

Josef Valčík (pronounced [ˈjozɛv ˈval̩tʃiːk]; 2 November 1914 – 18 June 1942) was a Czechoslovak British-trained soldier and member of the Resistance in German-occupied Czechoslovakia who took part in the firefight during the aftermath of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, code named Operation Anthropoid.

Operation Anthropoid

SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich, a high-ranking German Nazi official, was chief of the Reich Security Main Office and one of the main architects of the Holocaust. He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia in 1942.

The Germans were unable to locate the attackers until Karel Čurda of the "Out Distance" sabotage group turned himself in to the Gestapo and gave them the names of the team's local contacts for the reward of one million Reichsmarks.[1] Valčík and the others died after a six-hour firefight with Waffen-SS troops and German police in the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.[2]

Family

14 members of Valčík's family were arrested, brought to Mauthausen concentration camp and executed.

  • Parents Jan Valčík (1880-1942) and Veronika Valčík (1888-1942)
  • Brother Antonín Valčík (1919-1942) and sister Ludmila Valčíková (1923-1942)
  • Sister Terezia Beňová (1912-1942) with husband Jan Beňa (1908-1942)
  • Sister Marii Kolaříková (1917-1942) with husband Josef Kolařík (1914-1942)
  • Sister Františku Sívková (1911-1942) with husband František Sívek (1910-1942)
  • Brother Aloise Valčík (1908-1942) with wife Anna Valčíková (1907-1942)
  • Brother Emil Valčík (1909-1942) with wife Anna Valčíková (1911-1942)

Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lisciotto, Carmelo (2009). "The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich". The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. ↑ McDonald, Callum (1989). The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS Butcher of Prague. New York City: Da Capo. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-306-80860-9. OCLC 722860441.
  3. ↑ Miroslav Šindelář (8 May 2010). "Udělení resortních vyznamenání" (in Czech). Praha: Czech Army. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2018.


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