Visiting National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror in Prague

This memorial commemorates the brave Czechoslovak parachutists who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi leader, in 1942. After the assassination, the parachutists were sheltered in the crypt of the cathedral by the Czech Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, the Nazis discovered their hiding place and none of the parachutists survived the ensuing shoot-out.

My visit to the memorial

I’ve visited the memorial several times and I always find it a very moving (and haunting) place. The exhibition is very informative and it’s translated into English language.

You can visit the crypt, through a very heavy iron door, where you can still see the bullet holes and shrapnel marks visible on the walls. I found particularly haunting the experience of standing still in the crypt, listening to the distant cars and people traffic outside the church, thinking this is what the people there might have heard as well when they were hiding there.

I also visited the church of St. Cyril and Methodius upstairs, where you can see the original entrance to the crypt underneath.

Insider Tip

The memorial is open every day apart from Mondays, all year round. Because it’s free and on the educational curriculum of Czech schools, it can get quite busy. The place (as you can imagine) is very small, so if you see that it’s busy inside, it’s worth coming back later after 3 pm or even later when the day visitors and schools have already gone.

What happened inside the church crypt

After the assassination, the seven paratroopers — Adolf Opálka, Jozef Gabčík, Jan Kubiš, Josef Valčík, Josef Bublík, Jan Hrubý, and Jaroslav Švarc — who had been specially trained for this military mission, were unable to escape Prague safely without being detected.

With the help of the Orthodox Church, they found a suitable hiding place in the Ss. Cyril and Methodius church. The Reich police immediately launched an extensive search for them, arresting and interrogating many people.

Unfortunately Karel Čurda, who was one of the paratroopers betrayed them and after a three weeks of interrogations, the Nazis managed find out the hiding place of Heydrich’s assassins. This was literary just before the day when the paratroopers were planning to move from the crypt to a safer location.

On June 18, 1942, members of the SS and Gestapo surrounded the church, and a battle broke out there early in the morning. Fighting took place inside the church, on the choir loft, and in the crypt.

Since the battle was lost from the very beginning, the paratroopers kept their last bullets for themselves — and used them.

When the main German units finally broke into the church, the national heroes were already dead.

Representatives of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, led by Bishop Gorazd, were arrested and executed. As a result of this event, the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church was temporarily abolished in 1942.

The memorial exhibition

The memorial has a small museum that exhibits artefacts related to the assassination and the resistance movement, including weapons, documents, and personal belongings of the parachutists.

At the beginning of the exhibition, you will learn more about the pre-war events in autumn 1938, the history of the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, the appointment of Reinhard Heydrich as Acting Reich Protector in September 1941, and the onset of the bloody terror on Czech territory.

The next section describes the circumstances of the preparation and execution of Operation Anthropoid, culminating on May 27, 1942.

The final part of the exhibition is devoted to the tragic fates of the paratroopers and their collaborators from the domestic resistance (especially members of the Sokol movement and the Czech Orthodox Church), without whose help the assassination could never have been carried out.

You can also enter the actual crypt of the Orthodox Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where you can see bronze busts of the paratroopers who fell there (by the academic sculptor Milan Benda) and read their moving biographies.

Practical Information for visiting the memorial

• Location: Resslova 9a, New Town, Prague 2 – walking distance from Charles Square – Karlovo Namesti tram stops or underground stops.
• Opening Times: Tuesday until Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm (closed on Mondays)
• Entry: Free

Directions from the centre of Prague

From Old Town Square, walk to Můstek metro station and take the Metro Line B (yellow line) in the direction of Zličín and get off at Karlovo náměstí.

From there, it’s just a short 5-minute walk to the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius on Resslova Street, where the memorial is located.

Alternatively, you can take tram number 6, 10, 16, or 22 to the Moráň stop, which is right next to the church. The entire journey takes about 10-15 minutes including the walk.

This blog post was originally written on 8 October 2025 and last updated on 8 October 2025