The tragic end of Operation Barium
On January 16, 1945, the Nazis cracked down on Operation Barium, one of the most successful resistance networks in the Protectorate during World War II.
On the night of 3 to 4 April 1944, three paratroopers from the Barium group were parachuted near Vysoká nad Labem within a resistance operation organized by the Czechoslovak government in exile. They were Captain Josef Šandera, radio-telegraph operator Lieutenant Josef Žižka and cryptographer Lieutenant Tomáš Býček. The paratroopers were tasked with mobilizing local resistance fighters.
There were some complications at first. Some of the people the paratroopers tried to contact were arrested by the Nazi secret police – the Gestapo. Due to the threat of disclosure, the broadcast locations were continuously changed. As did the paratroopers' hiding places. Despite the repressive atmosphere following the assassination of Nazi Protector Reinhard Heydrich, they succeeded in gradually developing a resistance network of over 380 Czech patriots providing information on the situation in occupied Bohemia.
This lasted until 16 January 1945, when thanks to an informer the Gestapo managed to expose the group and cracked down on its members with a vengeance. Šandera and Žižka were surrounded by the Gestapo near Žamberk. Fearing reprisals against the local population, Žižka surrendered and hanged himself a day later in Pankrác prison. Šandera attempted suicide and succumbed to his injuries on 9 March 1945 in Hradec Králové.
Only Tomáš Býček, who managed to join the partisans in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, lived to see the end of the war. In 1948 he emigrated to Great Britain, where he spent the rest of his life.
Find out more about Operation Barium here
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