the nationality of all inhabitants of the czech provinces and ...

Chapter IV
This was however mirrored on the
German and especially on the Sudeten
German side. According to reports by
the Sicherheitsdienst, great animation,
indeed enthusiasm, prevailed among the
Germans: “Now the Czechs know what
it feels like! At last a tough line is being
taken against them!”
The fact that relations were
becoming exacerbated is demonstrated
not only by reports and articles, but by
The Break up of Czechoslovakia and the Genesis
of the Transfer
182
of taking vigorous action by a new
lightning strike at an appropriate
moment”.
THE ASSASSINATION
OF HEYDRICH AND THE
SUBSEQUENT REIGN
OF TERROR
Heydrich was prevented from achieving
his aims when he was assassinated on
May 27, 1942 by Czechoslovak
To support the Reich’s war effort, the bells were removed from all Czech churches
to be melted down for the production of munitions.
the way the situation in fact developed.
By January 1942 Frank was
complaining in a letter to Heydrich that
“it looks as though 300 executions and
continuing martial law in Prague and
Brno have been forgotten. New
resistance forces are developing their
activities, broad sections of the
population are again displaying a hostile
attitude, and leaflets are being
distributed on a large scale once more.”
Heydrich confirmed this in a report to
Bormann on May 16, 1942, and
threatened that, while he was prepared
to wait a while longer, if things did not
change he had resolved to “emphasise
the fact that the Reich was still capable
parachutists sent from London but
receiving crucial help from the
resistance movement inside the
Protectorate. This was followed by a
new wave of terror that went beyond all
that had gone before. The German
police and army searched some 5,000
towns and villages. 1,357 people
(according to the statement made by
Frank after the war it may have been as
many as 1,700) were sentenced to death
by military courts (again effectively
police courts) and executed, in some
cases simply for “approving” of the
assassination, and sometimes together
with their entire families. The total
number of those killed was however