Jozef Gabčík
| Jozef Gabčík | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 8 April 1912 Rajecfürdő, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire (Present-day Rajecké Teplice, Slovakia) |
| Died | 18 June 1942 (aged 30) Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Present-day Czech Republic) |
| Allegiance |
 Czechoslovakia United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch | Czechoslovakian army in-exile |
| Years of service | 1939–42 † |
| Rank | Rotmistr (Staff Sergeant) |
| Unit | Special Operations Executive |
| Battles/wars | |
Jozef Gabčík (8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942) was a Slovak soldier in the Czechoslovak army involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of acting Reichsprotektor (Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
Gabčík was born 1912 in Poluvsie, part of Rajecké Teplice, Žilina district, Slovakia (former Slovak territory of Austria-Hungary). He learned to be a farrier, as well as a blacksmith. He was also taught clock making at the village of Kostelec Nad Vltavou (Bohemia). He was taught by local master blacksmith J. Kunike. He lived with the Kunike family in their house of which still stands together with the outbuilding and yard which was used as a smithy. The house is located some 50 meters down a small hill which leads from the village centre where the church stands. In 1927 so the school records show that he attended School in Business Studies at Kovarov near to Kostelec Nad Vltavou. The building which housed the school is today the Municipal Office. A marble plaque was erected in 2010, together with historical documents on the wall there. These documents were all placed there by the citizens of Kovarov. Jozef at one time was working at a chemicial plant in Žilina until 1939. He fled Czechoslovakia during World War II for Great Britain, where he was trained as a paratrooper. He became a rotmistr (approx. UK Staff Sergeant) in rank. The Free Czechoslovaks, as he and other self-exiled Czechoslovaks were called, were stationed at Cholmondeley Castle near Malpas in Cheshire.
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