Čapek in English: Rare edition signed by Heydrich’s assassins on display in Prague

A rare copy of Karel Čapek’s travelogue English Letters (Anglické listy), signed in 1941 by 20 Czechoslovak soldiers training in the UK for a secret mission in Nazi-occupied Bohemia, is now on display at the Museum of Literature in Prague.

The signed volume has been loaned to the Czech Republic by the Imperial War Museums in Britain. The original will be on display for five days due to its fragility, after which a replica will remain on view for the following three weeks.

The exhibition opened at 10:31 a.m. on May 27—the exact hour and minute when acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated by Czechoslovak paratroopers in 1942. The mission, known as Operation Anthropoid, became one of the most significant acts of resistance during World War II.

Čapek’s English Letters was based on notes he sent to the Czech newspaper Lidové noviny during a two-month trip across the UK in 1924. In 1941, a group of 20 Czechoslovak soldiers training in Britain gifted an English-language copy of the book to their instructor, Ernest Van Maurik. He later donated it to the Imperial War Museums.

“This is the first time the Czech Republic has borrowed the original English edition of English Letters,” said Stehlík. “What makes it extraordinary is that it bears the signatures of 20 paratroopers who completed training, including Jan Kubiš, Jan Hrubý, Josef Bublík, and paratroopers.”

The exhibition includes items directly related to Operation Anthropoid, such as a fragment of a used parachute and a calf holster for a pistol recovered from the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where the assassins hid after the mission.

Also featured are Čapek’s original illustrations for English Letters, manuscripts of his anti-war writings, foreign editions of the book, and artworks inspired by his work. The exhibit is accompanied by a presentation on Čapek’s legacy.

“This display is truly special—both historically and materially—because the ink in the signatures is very delicate,” Stehlík noted. The museum notes that “Čapek's life and work, and the heroic deeds inspired by them, remain not only timeless after many years, but unfortunately also relevant at a time of war conflict in Europe.” 

In late September 1941, following Heydrich’s appointment as acting Reich Protector, the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London authorized more aggressive actions to support the domestic resistance. This included assassinations of Nazi officials and collaborators.

In December 1941, three parachute missions—Silver A, Silver B, and Anthropoid—were deployed into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The Anthropoid team included Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, who carried out the attack on Heydrich on May 27, 1942. He died from his wounds on June 4.

The Nazi response was brutal. Martial law was declared, and mass executions began. The terror reached its peak in June 1942 with the annihilation of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. Over 3,000 people were killed before martial law ended on July 3, 1942.