Jan Kubiš was a Czechoslovak soldier, a member of the Anthropoid paratroop group, whose grenade struck the car of Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on 27 May 1942.
Jan Kubiš (24 June 1913 Dolní Vilémovice – 18 June 1942 Prague) was a member of the Czechoslovak army in the United Kingdom. As a member of the Anthropoid paratroop group he took part in the assassination of the Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich.[1]
Youth and military service
After primary school he worked in agriculture and occasionally as a stoker. In October 1935 he began basic military service with the 31st Infantry Regiment in Jihlava, where he completed the non-commissioned officers' school and reached the rank of corporal. He remained in the army as a long-serving non-commissioned officer and moved to the 34th Infantry Regiment in Opava, where he was already serving as a sergeant before the Munich Diktat.[2]
After the occupation of the Czech lands he decided to continue the fight. He left illegally for Poland and joined a newly forming Czechoslovak unit that was being assembled in Małe Bronowice. At the end of July 1939 he travelled to France, where the only possible way was to join the Foreign Legion, and for several weeks he stayed in the legionnaires' barracks in Saida in Africa. When France and Germany entered a state of war, legionnaires were allowed to transfer to the Czechoslovak army, which was forming in the town of Agde. Kubiš arrived there at the end of September 1939 and after brief training was promoted to staff sergeant. He fought on the Loire and for bravery received the French Croix de Guerre.[2]
After the defeat of France he was evacuated to England. In 1941 he became a warrant officer. He underwent special training between 15 August and 27 December 1941.[1]
Family and background
The Military History Institute recalled the memories of a witness from his native village, according to whom the Kubiš family farmed two small fields and kept a cow and a goat, grew potatoes and bought additional grain for bread. His siblings worked in service, his brother Rudolf was a tailor in Třebíč, and Kubiš himself worked for some time in a brickworks.[6]
The Anthropoid paratroop group and the assassination
Jozef Gabčík asked for Kubiš to be assigned to the Anthropoid group, where he took the place of an injured staff sergeant. They were dropped into the protectorate on 29 December 1941, but because of a navigation error they landed near the Central Bohemian village of Nehvizdy instead of in the Plzeň region. They then moved to the Plzeň region and took part in preparations for an unsuccessful bombing of the Škoda works.[1]
The historians Jaroslav Čvančara and Vlastislav Janík newly established details of the activities of both paratroopers in January and February 1942. Previously only the facts from 5 March 1942 up to the assassination in May were known.[3]
After returning to Prague they carried out the assassination of Heydrich on 27 May 1942. His car was hit by Kubiš's modified anti-tank grenade.[1]
The fight in the church and death
After the assassination Kubiš hid with other paratroopers in the crypt of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Resslova Street in Prague. During the attack by German forces on the church he defended himself in the choir loft together with two comrades. A grenade explosion knocked him unconscious, so unlike the others he was unable to take his own life. Severely wounded, he was taken to an SS infirmary in Podolí, where he died on 18 June 1942. After identification and an autopsy he was buried in a mass grave in Ďáblice.[1]
Honours and commemoration
In 2002 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel.[1] The municipality of Dolní Vilémovice lists on its website his ranks and awards, among them staff captain of the infantry in memoriam, the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 three times, the French Croix de Guerre, the Golden Star of the Czechoslovak Military Order For Freedom, the Star of the 1st Class of the Czechoslovak Military Order of the White Lion For Victory, and the Order of M. R. Štefánik, 3rd class.[2]
In Prague Kubiš is commemorated by a memorial stone at the place where the Gestapo laid the bodies of the paratroopers for identification after the fight. The exact position was determined by the historian Pavel Kmoch from Gestapo photographs and autopsy reports. In the crypt of the church there is a plaque with his bust, and his name is also on a plaque above the window of the crypt.[1] Seventy-five years after the assassination, a plaque to Gabčík and Kubiš was also unveiled in the English village of Ightfield. It is on the grave of the family with whom the paratroopers made friends during their training.[4]
Birth house in Dolní Vilémovice
The municipality of Dolní Vilémovice acquired the birth house in 2009 in a dilapidated condition. To fund its reconstruction and the creation of a museum it launched a public collection, in which two million crowns were raised over three years. Contributions came from people in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and France, and among the larger donors were the ČEZ Foundation and the Vysočina Region. Volunteers worked 1,055 hours. The ceremonial opening took place in 2013, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. The permanent exhibition was prepared by the Military History Institute, and in front of the house stands a bust, for which the Ministry of Defence contributed 300,000 CZK.[5]
According to the municipality, the house is open all year except Mondays, and a visit must be arranged in advance. Contact details and current information are given on the municipality's page.[5]