Was the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich Worth It?

[Montmorency]

Attentat 1942: Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, governor of the Nazi-occupied Czech Republic, was attacked on May 27 1942 in a British operation. Two squads of Czechoslovak-exile commandos had been inserted into the occupied zone by parachute in late 1941, to link up with local resistance. Months of planning culminated in the partly-successful attack: though Heydrich survived initially, he later died of his injuries. Every one of the participants on the ground was uncovered and killed by the Germans. Civilian deaths due to prompt reprisals numbered in the thousands.

Upon learning of the nature of the mission, resistance leaders begged the Czechoslovak government-in-exile to call off the attack, saying that "An attempt against Heydrich's life.. would be of no use to the Allies and its consequences for our people would be immeasurable."

What did the assassination accomplish? Was it worth it, militarily or strategically? Was it ethically justified?

Hit and run thread -- I offer no further input.

[edyzmedieval]

Hit and miss was the operation to be fair - Heydrich was taken out of the equation but the reprisals and subsequent betrayal by the Resistance movement member destroyed 2 entire villages and created many other massacres.

By 1942 the war was on the edge, going for Heydrich when they knew how many people would be assaulted by the Nazis was a disaster of the idea.

[Strike For The South]

Militarily? No. Anything post Barbarossa is a ripple in that wider ocean. Heydichs death or life does not change the carnage or material expenditure in the Pale.

Ethically? I mean it depends how you look at it. If you feel like he would have been more adept at implementing his final solution than those that came after him, ethically justified. If you feel like those lives were lost years before they managed to corner him, not justified. If your God or your universe demands a (legitimate) blood debt, consequences be damned, justified.

Over a 1000 innocent people were killed as a direct result of his death. Were more than a 1000 people saved because he was not there to see his vision through? That is an unknowable.

[spmetla]

From the military viewpoint though this would take resources away from the fighting fronts to conduct extra anti-partisan patrols. Other military governors of occupied lands would take note and step up their security measures at the expense of any working relations with the locals. Reinforce the viewpoint among the German soldiers that they can't trust any Czechs creating a 'siege' mentality that separates them from the populace and makes them even more heavy handed in day to day life (aside from the actual reprisals). The Czech resistance would probably find more recruits and help in the long run as the reprisals spread the fear and hatred of the German occupation and spur more fence sitters into action against the Germans.

Perhaps no outcome on the length of the war in the big picture but having Bohemia and Moravia with their arms industries hosting any sort of resistance be it in outward fighting or sabotage of the production works all adds to the final victory over the Germans. Keep in mind that 'Total War' doesn't just blur but usually erases the care toward civilians in that they are too the means of production for the enemies war effort.

[AE Bravo]

Dunno, but criminally underrated film.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

In some ways, I suspect that whacking Heydrich was of substantial value in furthering partisan efforts throughout Europe.

Setting aside his demonstrable evil, Heydrich was intelligent, pragmatic, and an able administrator. His carrot and stick approach was quite far along in suppressing resistance efforts in Bohemia/Moravia. Had he survived, he had the clout to spread this approach more broadly and to make strides against partisan activities throughout the Nazi occupation zone. This would have diminished the partisan effort and put more German troops into the field.

His death, and the classic SS thug lash out and destroy response, set exactly the kind of tone that appealed to the cunning but less intelligent cadre that was the norm for Nazi leadership and which also ended up furthering the resistance efforts through its very harshness.

[edyzmedieval]

Heydrich was an able administrator and that's why he had such a high ranking in the army, notwithstanding his political affiliation. Nevertheless, Operation Anthropoid went a bit awry despite his lack of sustained protection (quite surprising), it wasn't carried out exceptionally well which also probably added to the anger since Heydrich almost survived.