The Anthropoid Operation Memorial

The Anthropoid Operation Memorial, 2009

Used materials:

Weld steel supporting construction of the column is encrusted by plates of the aforementioned corten. The characters are manufactured by the common technique – a mud-modelated statues are cast from bronze.

height - 9 m (base) + figures in lifesize (h = 180 cm)

Prague (Praha-Libeň)

Co-authors:
MgA. David Moješčík, MgA. Michal Šmeral

Architects:
Ing. arch. Miroslava Tůmová a Jiří Gulbis

The unveiling of the finalized memorial took place on 27 May 2009 at 10:35 a.m. (the anniversary of the assassination).

Photos: Kristýna Štuková

On April 14th 2008 the city district Prague 8 announced its intention to hold a one-round competition, open to the public, for the design of a memorial to Operation Anthropoid: the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík; two paratroopers from the Czechoslovakian army-in-exile. While Heydrich’s official title was “Acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia”, he was also known as “The Butcher Of Prague”
The site for the proposed monument was the very spot in the district of Kobylisy where Kubiš and Josef Gabčík assassinated Heydrich.

One of the chief design requirements for the memorial was that it should not merely commemorate one of the most successful actions of the Czechoslovak resistance during World War II but that it should also serve as a tribute to the virtues embodied in the Czechoslovak military tradition – a commitment to one’s oath of duty, and to the defence one’s nation even at the cost of one’s own life.

20 projects were entered into the competition. At a committee meeting on May 27th, the anniversary of the operation, our concept was awarded first place. Work on the memorial began immediately thereafter.