Proč Gabčík nestřílel – Kubík Lubomír (2025)

The theme of the assassination of the acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich is explored by Lubomír Kubík in his book using novelistic means. He adheres to all available historical facts about the event, but also reflects on the inner motivations of its direct participants.

The main storyline revolves around the fate of two Czechoslovak paratroopers, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, sent to the protectorate under the cover names Zdeněk and Ota. The author follows their journey from their drop over occupied Bohemia at the end of December 1941 to their unequal fight against the Nazis in June 1942 in the crypt of the Orthodox Church of Cyril and Methodius. Right from the start, they must overcome numerous obstacles. Instead of landing in the forests near Plzeň, they find themselves 20 kilometers from Prague and only by chance manage to contact resistance members from the Sokol organization.

The paratroopers are struck by the despondency of many compatriots; they did not expect the conditions in their occupied homeland to be so dire and life so paralyzed.

Despite initial caution, cooperation with the illegal network quickly takes off. However, an increasingly larger circle of their collaborators fears that the operation will cost too many lives and begins to doubt its purpose. Gabčík and Kubiš realize that...