Lidice

Lidice (German: Liditz) is a village in the Kladno District of the Czech Republic, 22 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of Prague. It is built near the site of the previous village of the same name, which was completely destroyed on June 10th, 1942 on orders from Adolf Hitler and Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler in reprisal for the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich.[1]

This article is about the Czech village. For the town in Panama named after it, see Lídice. For the 2011 film, see Lidice (film). For places in the Czech Republic with similar names, see Ledce.

Lidice

Liditz
Village
Municipal office
Flag
Coat of arms
Lidice
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°8′35″N 14°11′25″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionCentral Bohemian
DistrictKladno
Little DistrictKladno
First mentioned1318
Government
 • MayorVáclav Zelenka
Area
 • Total4.74 km2 (1.83 sq mi)
Elevation
343 m (1,125 ft)
Population
 (As of 2006)
 • Total435
 • Density92/km2 (240/sq mi)
Postal code
273 54
Websitewww.obec-lidice.cz

History

The village is first mentioned in writing in 1318. After the industrialisation of the area, many of its people worked in mines and factories in the neighbouring cities of Kladno and Slaný.

Lidice was chosen as a target for reprisals in the wake of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, because its residents were suspected of harbouring local resistance partisans and were falsely associated with aiding team members of Operation Anthropoid.[2][3] Altogether, about 340 people from Lidice were murdered in the German reprisal (192 men, 60 women and 88 children). The village of Lidice was set on fire and the remains of the buildings destroyed with explosives. After the war ended, only 153 women and 17 children returned.[4] They were rehoused in a new village of Lidice that was built overlooking the original site, built using money raised by the Lidice Shall Live campaign, initiated by Sir Barnett Stross and based in north Staffordshire in the United Kingdom.[5][6] The first part of the new village was completed in 1949.

An art gallery, which displays permanent and temporary exhibitions, is in the new village 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the museum. The annual children's art competition attracts entries from around the world.[7]

In 1943, the Czech composer, Bohuslav Martinů, wrote the musical work, Memorial to Lidice.

In 2017, to mark the 75th anniversary of the tragedy, the English composer Vic Carnall wrote his Opus 17, In Memoriam: the Village of Lidice (Czechoslovakia / June, 1942), a work for solo piano.

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Lidice is twinned with Coventry, United Kingdom.[8][9]

See also

References
  1. Gerwarth, Robert (2011). Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-300-11575-8.
  2. Williamson, Gordon (1995). Loyalty is my Honor. Motorbooks International. p. 87. ISBN 0-7603-0012-7.
  3. Wechsberg, Joseph (24 June 1948). "The Love Letter That destroyed Lidice". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 20. Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via Google News Archive.
  4. Kaplan, Jan; Nosarzewska, Krystyna (1997). Prague: The Turbulent Century, Koenemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Koeln, p. 241 ISBN 3-89508-528-6
  5. "How Stoke-on-Trent helped Lidice recover from the Nazis". BBC News. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. Phillips, Russell (2016). A Ray of Light: Reinhard Heydrich, Lidice, and the North Staffordshire Miners. Shilka Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 9780995513303.
  7. International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice
  8. Griffin, Mary (2 August 2011). "Coventry's twin towns". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  9. "Coventry – Twin towns and cities". Coventry City Council. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
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