Josef Valčík

{{Infobox military person

| name = Josef Valčík

| image = Operace Anthropoid - Josef Valčík.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1914|11|2}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1942|6|18|1914|11|2}}

| birth_place = {{Plainlist|

Smolina near Valašské Klobouky, Austria-Hungary
(present-day Czech Republic)

}}

| death_place = {{Plainlist|

Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
(present-day Czech Republic)

}}

| placeofburial =

| allegiance = {{Plainlist|

{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
{{flag|United Kingdom}}

}}

| branch = {{Plainlist|

}}

| serviceyears = {{Plainlist|

1936–1939
1940–1942

}}

| rank = Podporučík (Lieutenant)

| unit = Special Operations Executive

| battles =

| awards = Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945

}}

File:Valčík za 100 000 Kč.jpg/Göding, and the date of birth is erroneous as well.]]

Josef Valčík ({{IPA|cs|ˈjozɛv ˈval̩tʃiːk|pron}}; 2 November 1914 – 18 June 1942) was a Czechoslovak British-trained soldier and member of the Resistance in German-occupied Czechoslovakia who took part in the firefight during the aftermath of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, code named Operation Anthropoid.

Operation Anthropoid

SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich, a high-ranking German Nazi official, was chief of the Reich Security Main Office and one of the main architects of the Holocaust. He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia in 1942.

The Germans were unable to locate the attackers until Karel Čurda of the "Out Distance" sabotage group turned himself in to the Gestapo and gave them the names of the team's local contacts for the reward of one million Reichsmarks.{{cite web | first = Carmelo | last = Lisciotto | url = https://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/heydrichkilling.html | title = The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich | publisher = The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team | year = 2009 | access-date = 10 May 2018 }} Valčík and the others died after a six-hour firefight with Waffen-SS troops and German police in the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.{{cite book | first = Callum | last = McDonald | title = The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS Butcher of Prague | pages= 239 | publisher = Da Capo | location = New York City | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-306-80860-9 | oclc = 722860441 }}

Family

14 members of Valčík's family were arrested, brought to Mauthausen concentration camp and executed.

Parents Jan Valčík (1880-1942) and Veronika Valčík (1888-1942)
Brother Antonín Valčík (1919-1942) and sister Ludmila Valčíková (1923-1942)
Sister Terezia Beňová (1912-1942) with husband Jan Beňa (1908-1942)
Sister Marii Kolaříková (1917-1942) with husband Josef Kolařík (1914-1942)
Sister Františku Sívková (1911-1942) with husband František Sívek (1910-1942)
Brother Aloise Valčík (1908-1942) with wife Anna Valčíková (1907-1942)
Brother Emil Valčík (1909-1942) with wife Anna Valčíková (1911-1942)

Honours

1942 – 60px – Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
1942 – 60px – Second Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 in memoriam
1944 – 60px – Commemorative Medal of the Czechoslovak Army Abroad with France and Great Britain Bars
1945 – 60px – Third Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 in memoriam
1949 – 60px – Czechoslovak Military Order for Freedom, Gold Star
1968 – 60px – Order of the Red Banner
2010 – 60px – Cross of Merit of the State Defense{{Cite web| author = Miroslav Šindelář| title = Udělení resortních vyznamenání| url = http://www.mocr.army.cz/informacni-servis/vyroci/zpravodajstvi/udeleni-resortnich-vyznamenani-40146/| location = Praha| publisher = Czech Army| date = 2010-05-08| accessdate = 2018-06-27| language = cs| archive-date = 4 November 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131104181458/http://www.mocr.army.cz/informacni-servis/vyroci/zpravodajstvi/udeleni-resortnich-vyznamenani-40146/| url-status = dead}}