Josef Valčík

Josef Valčík (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. Valčík and the others died after a six-hour firefight with Waffen-SS troops and German police in the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.

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 – Czechoslovak_War_Cross_1939-1945_Bar.png – Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
 * 1942 – Czechoslovak_War_Cross_1939-1945_(2x)_Bar.png – Second Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 in memoriam
 * 1944 – TCH CS voj pametni medaile (F-VB) BAR.svg – Commemorative Medal of the Czechoslovak Army Abroad with France and Great Britain Bars
 * 1945 – Czechoslovak_War_Cross_1939-1945_(3x)_Bar.png – Third Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 in memoriam
 * 1949 – Czechoslovak_Military_Order_for_Liberty_Rib_copy.png – Czechoslovak Military Order for Freedom, Gold Star
 * 1968 – Order of the Red Banner (CSSR) Rib.png – Order of the Red Banner
 * 2010 – CZE State Defence Cross.svg – Cross of Merit of the State Defense